Realpolitik

U.S. Foreign Policy Doctrines: An Overview

2011-04-26T23:16:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Wikipedia and my other text resources, here is my best summary of the various doctrines (presidential or otherwise) that have defined and undergirded the United States' foreign policy throughout our history. This is intended as a reference guide.

Proclamation of Neutrality & Farewell Address (Washington): the US is neutral in the conflict between France and Great Britain; the United States will pursue legal proceedings against any American providing assistance to the warring countries; it is the true policy of the US to steer clear of permanent alliances

Monroe Doctrine: further efforts by European countries to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas will be viewed as acts of aggression requiring U.S. intervention; the Western Hemisphere is not to be further colonized by European countries, but the United States will neither interfere with existing European colonies nor meddle in the internal concerns of European countries

Roosevelt Corollary: a right of the United States exists to intervene in order to stabilize the economic affairs of states in the South America, if they’re unable to pay their international debts

Lodge Corollary: the US forbids any foreign power from acquiring any significant territory in the Western Hemisphere

Stimson Doctrine: the United States does not recognize international territorial changes executed by force; furthermore, the US cannot admit the legality of any situation de facto nor recognize any treaty between those governments which may impair the treaty rights of the United States

Good Neighbor policy (FDR): non-intervention and non-interference in the domestic affairs of Latin America to create new economic opportunities and to reassert the influence of the US in Latin America

Truman Doctrine: the policy of the United States is to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures; because totalitarian regimes coerced free peoples, they represent a threat to international peace and the national security of the United States

Eisenhower Doctrine: a country can request American economic assistance and/or aid from U.S. military forces if it is being threatened by armed aggression from another state, specifically the USSR in the Middle East

Kennedy Doctrine: the United States must focus on the containment of Communism and the reversal of Communist progress in the Western Hemisphere (“we shall pay any price, bear any burden”)

Johnson Doctrine: Communist dictatorship of a Latin American country is a priority concern of the United States and is no longer a local matter

Nixon Doctrine: the United States henceforth expects its allies to take care of their own military defense, but that the US would aid in defense as requested; the US will honor all previous treaty commitments and continue to provide a nuclear shield against threats on allied nations

Carter Doctrine: an attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America; the United States would use military force if necessary to defend its national interests there

Reagan Doctrine: the focus of the US will shift from keeping Communism from spreading to eliminating existing Communist governments, from containment to rollback; the United States also will encourage capitalism and democracy in these places; specific nations targeted for rollback are Afghanistan, Angola, Ethiopia, Iran, Laos, Libya, Nicaragua, and Vietnam

Clinton Doctrine: the United States has a national interest in preventing genocide; if it's within the United State’s power to stop genocide, the US will use military force to affect that end

Bush Doctrine: the United States has the right to secure itself against countries that harbor or give aid to terrorist groups; to prevent hostile acts by adversaries, the United States will act preemptively in exercising our inherent right of self-defense if necessary; the US must also advance the cause of freedom and democracy abroad

Obama Doctrine: I have no clue. Maybe we'll see something more definite come out in his next two years.

On the Tucson Shooting: MSM vs. Palin's Map

2011-01-24T15:07:00.000-08:00

In other news - indeed, sometimes the only news being discussed on TV - we've seen Sarah Palin getting blamed for the tragedy in Arizona, largely by obvious lefty partisans. The theory is being forced to people's attention by the MSM who are treating it like it's an idea worth musing on. She is seen as culpable for this shooting because of her "violent imagery" and "vitriolic rhetoric" and the like. In specific, she is thought to be responsible for the shooting because of a map that was posted on SarahPAC's website in 2010. They say it is so terrible because it uses the so-called "violent imagery" of cross-hairs to target Mrs. Giffords' district as one ready to be taken by Republicans in the then-upcoming midterm elections.

Here it is, and you can see it for yourself:

You can understand just by looking at the thing that it's not violent at all. I can't even get a little riled up looking at all that calming blue. Blue is the color they paint nurseries for crying out loud.

Plus, there's nothing inherently "violent" about cross-hairs. True, most people tend to think of guns, but really it has to do more with scopes than the actual gun. Many people have pointed out that cross-hairs are painted onto plenty of surveyor leveling instruments, so they aren't necessarily gun scopes. But for sake of argument, I'll assume that most normal people think of guns when they see the cross-hairs symbol.

Why do we assume that it was Sarah Palin's "targeting map" that set Loughner off? If "crosshairs" are all that's needed to set a psychopath on a killing rampage, maybe it was the creepily similar DNC map from 2004 that did it:

Wow, they even say "behind enemy lines"! Such violent rhetoric! Or maybe he was looking at the 2010 Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) map for "targeting" Republican congressmen:

My point is not that Democrats caused the tragedy. In fact, I think that the above two maps had nothing to do with Loughner's rampage. My point is that the so-called "violent imagery", which may/may not have supposedly pushed Loughner to violence, is not necessarily only Palin's doing. If targeting people (even metaphorically) is a cause for violence, then surely the DNC and DCCC are equally to blame.

I can agree that vitriolic rhetoric is not pleasant and doesn't have a place in modern, civilized political discourse. Yet, I might add that the use of targets and cross-hairs is nothing new or strange or extreme. Charles Krauthammer hit upon this in his column (actually, he wrote a lot of good things in that one; I recommend it). Political symbols and idioms have long included references to war and violence: we have primaries in 'battleground states', we take 'shellackings' in elections, we wage political 'campaigns', and our political spin doctors commit 'character assassinations' of opponents. Heck, President Obama himself even said of the political struggle between Democrats and Republicans that "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun." Why can't this be the vitriolic rhetoric that set Loughner off? And why now and not two years ago?

The most damning part of this whole poor excuse for a theory is the fact that there is not a shred of evidence that Loughner saw any of these images. WTF? Are we supposed to believe that Loughner was driven to violence by things with which he was never in contact? He was no Sarah Palin fan, and we have records of a personal vendetta against Giffords since 2007, when no one outside of Alaska knew who Sarah Palin was. So would anyone care to explain how that works? And don't gimme anything about "contributing to a climate of hate." That's a cop-out, plain and simple. It's such a lame, vague excuse that it could apply to merely pointing with your hand like this:

This is akin to suggesting that violent video games like Doom were the primary cause for school shootings like Columbine, for you gamers out there. I'm sure you can relate. Except the situation is more like this: "the shooter may have previously viewed a screenshot from Doom and that caused him to be so enraged that he shot up a school". Or better yet: "the mere existence of the violent game Doom caused a teenager who had never played it before to shoot up a school."

Seriously, that is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. You may not like Sarah Palin, but there's no way you can wish your way into blaming her for the tragedy.

I'd like to part with this quote:

"In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn't this like condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber."

- Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

On the Tragedy in Arizona

2011-01-24T14:56:00.000-08:00

This is a little late -- the shooting in Tucson occurred on January 8th earlier this year -- but I think that I ought to talk a little about it.

I'm very sorry for the victims of this shooting. Mrs. Giffords and her family deserve our prayers, as do the twenty other victims (6 of who died from their wounds) and their families. The man, Loughner, was clearly deranged and had no right to take away the lives of innocent people. In the meantime, I will pray.

On the Tax Deal

2010-12-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

It seems alright to me. I'm not excited about it, but hey, a compromise is a compromise. Though when it comes to what we can take away from the whole thing, I agree with Rush: the Congressional leadership of us Republicans are terrible negotiators. We could have gotten quite a bit more; there was really no chance that Obama wouldn't come to any terms. He needs the support of the middle classes more than he needs the die-hard progressives in any case. There was no way that Obama would have sat the whole thing out about keeping all the tax rates in place.

What I'm least happy about is the return of the inheritance tax and the increased jobless giveaways for another 13 months.

From WaPo:

The Obama-GOP compromise would (1) extend all the tax cuts that are set to expire Dec. 31, including for the wealthiest households; (2) continue long-term unemployment benefits through the end of next year; (3) give businesses a major tax break to encourage capital investment; and (4) provide working couples as much as $4,200 in extra cash in 2011 through a one-year payroll-tax holiday...
Republicans were still pressing on the estate tax, demanding more generous terms that would exempt estates worth up to $10 million for couples and impose a rate above that amount of only 35 percent. On Monday, Biden made a counteroffer: The GOP could have a relaxed estate tax in exchange for a two-year extension of refundable tax credits created in the 2009 stimulus package that benefit college students and working-class families.

McConnell agreed, and a deal was struck late Monday that would give Democrats at least $100 billion more in middle-class benefits than the GOP would win for the wealthiest taxpayers, senior administration officials said.

We did get plenty, but I think that the unemployment goodies could have been pushed to fewer months and we could have kept the inheritance tax out of the picture entirely. Oh well. You can't win them all.

On the other hand, I must admit that the return of an inheritance tax isn't so bad in this crisis, provided it's low and temporary. I can certainly think of worse taxes (VAT, anyone?) and between a heavy increase in income tax and a mild increase in inheritance tax, I'll take the "death tax."

I don't buy the arguments about "we'll have a double-dip recession if this isn't passed". No, we'll have a double-dip recession if the tax rates suddenly sky-rocket, but it doesn't necessarily follow that this particular bill will be the only one that we'll ever agree on. But I digress...

Besides, this isn't indicative of a major failing for the GOP. Think about it. First people are unsatisfied with Congress' job, then we get a big win in Congress, and now we're changing how business is done in Washington by implementing pro-business legislation! Quite a turn-around, no? I might add that if we don't pass anything and the tax rates get hiked by inaction, the public might think that the GOP really is being obstructionist for obstructionism's sake and not thinking about the good of the country, which is the very opposite of our intentions.

For some of my fellow conservatives who are outraged, lighten up. This is a good deal. Not excellent, true-- not by a long shot-- but I'm not for pushing our luck all at once. Hold your nose and let it pass. How do I know that it's a good deal? The far-left progressive types despise it with all their might. That's good enough for me.

A Funny Picture

2010-11-22T23:01:00.000-08:00

Veterans Day 2010

2010-11-11T22:37:00.000-08:00

God bless our veterans. They served their country and were ready to give their lives to keep us safe and free. Honor a veteran near you. Give him/her a hug. Lay a wreath on a memorial. Keep our loved ones in your hearts and in your prayers.

On the Tea Party and the Anti-incumbent Election

2010-11-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Tea Party, this election resulted in the largest number of novice, non-political candidates being sent to Washington:

"...35 incoming members of the House — and four new senators — have never been elected to anything... The new class of lawmakers will contain the highest number of members with no experience of elective office in decades, likely since 1948, when there were 44 such House members elected... above 1952, when there were 34 such members. In 1994, the last big citizen revolution led by Republicans, there were 30 political-novice House members elected."

Sweetcakes. We see once again the wonderful benefits of the Tea Party: throwing out the bums and changing the diaper of politics! Although, to be frank, it puzzles me why liberals aren't as enthusiastic about this. They supposedly hate corruption and nepotism (10 points if your first though was "The Kennedys"). So why the antagonism? Eh, I don't suppose I'll ever know these things.

I for one welcome the flushing out of old blood. Even if people are goodhearted, honest, and capable when they are voted in, all succumb to the allure of power and influence when in a safe political office. Elections exist to keep politicians responsible and on their toes. If a politician thinks his/her seat is safe, they get comfortable, become soft, and end up as a slimy leech that exists only to prolong its stay in Roach Motel, D.C.!

Or something like that.

Trew Dat

2010-11-05T23:14:00.001-07:00

On Midterm Elections of 2010: Aftermath

2010-11-03T22:07:00.000-07:00

Excellent gains for the GOP. There's not much I can add, only that it was a very good election. Good gains nationally (with some very disappointing results in certain states), great gains for governors, and brilliant gains in state legislatures.

A few of the disappointing results: Barbara Boxer (D) kept her CA Senate seat, Harry Reid (D) kept his NV Senate seat, the Democrats kept the WV Senate seat, Michael Bennett (D) keeps his Senate seat from CO, Pat Murray (D) kept her WA Senate seat, Hickenlooper (D) won as CO governor, and Jerry Brown (D) won as CA governor.

Delaware's Senate seat went to Chris Coons (D), but that's to be expected. Christine O'Donnell (R) made a bit of a race of it.

Washington, West Virginia, Nevada, and Colorado were especially frustrating, largely because those were the ones we had the biggest chances at. Dino Rossi (R) was within one percentage point of beating Patty Murray (D); the totals were 51.8% to 49.2%.

Nevada was disappointing, mainly because any election that leaves Harry Reid (D) intact was a failure. On the other hand, it's mitigated by the fact that Reid, Jr. (D) lost the Nevada governorship to the Republican. Sweet cakes.

On the other hand, there were enormous achievements made by the GOP. The first two non-white female governors were elected -- Nikki Haley of SC (first female Indian governor) and Susanna Martinez of NM (first female Hispanic governor) -- who are both Republicans. Allen West (R) will be the first black Representative from Florida since the 1870s. Jamie Herrera (R) will be the first Hispanic to represent Washington in the House. Brian Sandoval (R) will be Nevada's first Hispanic governor. Tim Scott (R) will be the first African representative from South Carolina since the Reconstruction.

60+ seats have been won in the House, surpassing the total of 54 seats from the Republican Revolution of 1994. The Republicans now control the House of Representatives, and the midterm election was the largest Congressional gain for Republicans since the 1930s. The GOP may have only gained a few Senate seats, but +7 is still a strong gain.

It may just be easier to quote Stateline and Redstate:

In historical terms, the most dramatic wins for the Republicans were in the South. As recently as 20 years ago, long after the region had begun voting Republican in presidential elections, Democrats held every Southern legislative chamber. After last night, Republicans will control a majority of the region's legislative chambers for the first time since Reconstruction.

The GOP took both the North Carolina Senate and North Carolina House from the Democrats, winning the Senate for the first time since 1870. The party won both houses of the Alabama Legislature from the Democrats, which will also give the Republicans control there for the first time since Reconstruction. In Oklahoma, Republicans retained their control of the Legislature, which, coupled with their win in the governor's race, will give the GOP complete control of state government for the first time ever. In Tennessee the story was similar: Republicans won the governorship and solidified their control of the Legislature, putting them fully in charge of the state for the first time since Reconstruction.

Republicans will control both houses of the legislature in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana. In all five states, Democrats entered the election with control of the lower house. In Wisconsin, they'd had the Senate, too. All those states also will have Republican governors come January.

Republicans also picked up the Montana House, both houses of the Minnesota Legislature and both houses of the Maine Legislature. Maine joined Wisconsin in going from complete Democratic control of state government, including the legislature and the governorship, to complete Republican control.

The Texas and Tennessee Houses went from virtually tied to massive Republican gains. The gains in Texas were so big that the Republicans no longer need the Democrats to get state constitutional amendments out of the state legislature.

Republicans picked up 23 chambers of state legislatures. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Republicans now control both houses of the state legislature in 25 states.

Even by our highest standards we performed excellently. This was not just a Congressional realignment; it never was going to be. Democrats are holding onto power from the top down; our fuel comes from the bottom up, and the states would obviously be more responsive to the mood of the people.

2010 is over. Now, who's ready for 2012?

The Question We Must Ask Ourselves

2010-10-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

Quotables: Thomas Jefferson

2010-10-08T20:14:00.001-07:00

"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."

"As our enemies have found we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also."

"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself."

"Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society."

"Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it."

"I cannot live without books."

"Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading."

"Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any."

"An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed."

"I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend."

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."

"Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition."

"One man with courage is a majority."

"Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you."

"Be polite to all, but intimate with few."

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."

"It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read."

"It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good."

"How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened."

"I find that he is happiest of whom the world says least, good or bad."

"The general of today should be a soldier tomorrow if necessary."

"One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them."

"Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state... For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security."

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."

"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time."

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty."

"The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave."

"I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive."

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it."

"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

"Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question."

"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers."

"No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will."

"When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property."

"I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office."

"Politics is such a torment that I advise everyone I love not to mix with it."

"Nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man."

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

- Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, , and President of the U.S. (1801-1809)

Amusing: Rush Limbaugh to Appear on "Family Guy"

2010-10-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

Rush Limbaugh stars as himself in an upcoming episode of the cartoon show Family Guy. Apparently Rush was very happy with it and he appreciated that MacFarlane even asked. Also he revealed on his radio show that he likes Seth and that Seth was surprised that he accepted:

"I'm getting e-mail: 'Rush, are you that hard up? You're doing the Family Guy for money?' Folks, I don't even know what I got paid to do this. Whatever it is, it's union scale. Besides, I didn't do this for the money -- I did this for the fun of it."

"Family Guy has their own built-in audience, and, you know, it's not everybody's cup of tea. I mean, this program crosses a line every night that it's on. It runs up to the border and goes over it. But I like Seth. And what the hell."
"I've been in a couple Family Guy episodes already and I've gotten to know Seth MacFarlane pretty well. Yeah, he's a Hollywood liberal, but we get along. Seth appreciates and has a great affection for professionals, and we're all professionals here."

I probably won't watch it, but it's an interesting tidbit nonetheless.

If you do in fact are interested in seeing it, it airs October 3rd at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on the channel FOX.

More Funny Pictures

2010-10-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

In the News

2010-09-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

Ah, it's been a while since I posted last. I'd better play a little catch-up.

Let's see, what happened since July 2010?

There was:

The Cordoba Mosque at Ground Zero is still an issue. I've already posted on that.
Many primaries happened. Some surprising and gratifying upsets of establishment incumbents by Tea Party favorites. However, primaries aren't elections. I'll be truly ecstatic when they win on November 2nd. Looking forward to that.
Multiple pollsters have recorded generic ballots and opinion polls swinging more and more toward Republican gains in both Houses, with it becoming increasingly possible for a Senate takeover as well as the likely GOP takeover of the House of Representatives. Excellent.
Economy is going nowhere. Obama's "Summer Recovery" was a non-success, predictably.
The health care reform law is being shown to adversely affect health care prices, spending, and availability. Again, ditto on the "duh".
Glenn Beck held his "Restoring Honor" rally on the National Mall on 8/28/10. It drew a huge crowd and it was likened to more of a church picnic than a political rally. Sarah Palin attended as well, and gave a speech. Now, Glenn and Sarah are headed up to Alaska to do something special there for 9/11/10. Good for the both of them. I hope it goes well, whatever it may be.
The Obama administration continues to embarrass us on the national stage. As part of their campaign against Arizona's immigration law, the State Department listed the Arizona law as an example of "human rights abuses" that America needs to work on in a report to the United Nations. The same U.N. that has such paragons of human rights as China, Cuba, Iran, and others? Yep. Oh, the idiocy...
The Obama administration has led this nation to record levels of debt, officially. It shatters ever record from our nation's founding to now. Yay!
Bush's tax cuts are back on the table, with Democrats pushing not to extend them, or at least to only extend them for the lower and middle class. Right, because rich people don't deserve their money as much as poor people do or something. I don't know.
Final note: Reagan movie in 2011? The only question is this: will Hollywood go with their love of money or their hate of the Gipper when they make this movie? We'll have to find out.

Some More Funny Pictures

2010-09-09T16:55:00.001-07:00

Damn Those Naysayers!

2010-07-20T12:11:00.001-07:00

On Funny Pictures, Again

2010-06-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought they were funny...

(This one has a theme)

On Essential Rock 'n' Roll: A Playlist

2010-06-14T19:50:00.001-07:00

I dunno. I thought I'd make a list. I'd appreciate suggestions.

A classic (I use the term loosely) rock playlist would need the following:

AC/DC - "Back in Black"
AC/DC - "You Shook Me All Night Long"
Aerosmith - "Walk This Way"
The Allman Brothers Band - "Ramblin' Man"
The Animals - "The House of the Rising Sun"
Aretha Franklin - "Chain of Fools"
Aretha Franklin - "Respect"
The Band - "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
The Beatles - "Twist and Shout"
The Beatles - "Taxman"
Billy Idol - "Rebel Yell"
Billy Joel - "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"
Billy Joel - "We Didn't Start the Fire"
Black Sabbath - "Iron Man"
Black Sabbath - "Paranoid"
Blue Oyster Cult - "Don't Fear the Reaper"
Blue Oyster Cult - "Godzilla"
Bob Dylan - "Like a Rolling Stone"
Bon Jovi - "Living on a Prayer"
Bon Jovi - "You Give Love a Bad Name"
Bruce Springsteen - "Born to Run"
Bruce Springsteen - "Born in the USA"
The Byrds - "Eight Miles High"
The Byrds - "Mr. Tambourine Man"
Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Green River"
Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Suzie Q"
Deep Purple - "Smoke on the Water"
Dire Straits - "Money for Nothing"
Dire Straits - "Sultans of Swing"
Don McLean - "American Pie"
The Eagles - "Hotel California"
Elvis - "Jailhouse Rock"
The Guess Who - "American Woman"
Guns 'n' Roses - "Welcome to the Jungle"
Iron Maiden - "Die With Your Boots On"
Jackson Browne - "Running on Empty"
Jefferson Airplane - "Somebody to Love"
Jimi Hendrix - "Purple Haze"
Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation"
Joan Jett - "I Love Rock and Roll"
Judas Priest - "Pain Killer"
Kansas - "Carry on, My Wayward Son"
Led Zeppelin - "Rock and Roll"
Led Zeppelin - "Whole Lotta Love"
Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Gimme Three Steps"
Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet Home Alabama"
Mark Knopfler - "Do America"
Mark Knopfler - "What It Is"
Molly Hatchet - "Flirtin with Disaster"
Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
Metallica - "Master of Puppets"
Nirvana - "Smells like Teen Spirit"
Nirvana - "Lithium"
Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"
Ozzy Osbourne - "Mr. Crowley"
Pat Benatar - "Heartbreaker"
Pat Benatar - "Hit Me with Your Best Shot"
Paul Simon - "You Can Call Me Al"
Paul Simon - "Mrs. Robinson"
Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Queen - "We Will Rock You"
The Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop"
The Ramones - "I Wanna Be Sedated"
Ray Charles - "Hit the Road, Jack"
R.E.M. - "Orange Crush"
R.E.M. - "The One I Love"
Rolling Stones - "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
Rolling Stones - "Paint It Black"
Scorpions - "Rock You like a Hurricane"
The Smithereens - "Behind a Wall of Sleep"
The Smithereens - "Blood and Roses"
Steppenwolf - "Born to Be Wild"
Styx - "Come Sail Away"
Survivor - "Eye of the Tiger"
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - "Running Down a Dream"
U2 - "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Van Halen - "Panama"
The Who - "My Generation"
ZZ Top - "Gimme All Your Lovin' "
ZZ Top - "Sharply Dressed Man"

On Summer Vacation

2010-06-14T17:56:00.000-07:00

Schools out. Yes!

Profile: Sarah Palin

2010-05-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

Born: February 11, 1964

Education:

Hawaii Pacific University (1982)
North Idaho College (1983)
University of Idaho (1984-1985)
Matanuska-Susitna College(1985)
University of Idaho again (1986)
Received her bachelor's degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism (1987).

Resume:

Sportscaster for KTUU-TV and KTVA-TV in Anchorage and sports reporter for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman (1987)
Helped with family commercial fishing business (1988)
Wasilla City Council member (1992-5)
Two-time mayor of Wasilla (1996-2002)
2nd place runner-up for Lt. Governor candidate (2002)
Chairwoman and Ethics Supervisor of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (2003-4)
One of 3 directors of Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc. (2003-5)
Alaskan governor (2006-9)

Political Positions:

Fiscally - conservative
Defense - hawkish
Socially - conservative

Specifically:

Gun Rights - strong proponent
Abortion - opposed in almost all cases, except when the mother's life is endangered
Capital Punishment - strong proponent
Border Security - strong proponent
Energy - supports drilling domestically for oil
Afghanistan - believes that "we can win"
Israel - strong proponent of support for Israel
Same-sex Marriage - opposed
Legalized Marijuana - opposed

Quotables: Patrick Henry

2010-05-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

"For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and provide for it."

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined."

"Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense? "

"The great object is that every man be armed."

"I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience."

"I know of no way of judging the future but by the past."

"If this be treason, make the most of it!"

"I have now disposed of all my property to my family. There is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian religion."

"The Bible is worth all the other books which have ever been printed."

"We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power... the battle, sir, is not to the strong alone it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. "

"The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. "

"Perfect freedom is as necessary to the health and vigor of commerce as it is to the health and vigor of citizenship."

"Fear is the passion of slaves. "

"When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object."

"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

- Patrick Henry, Founder, Patriot, and Colonel of the 1st Virginia Regiment (1775-1783)

On the Arizona Immigration Law sb1070

2010-05-06T16:55:00.001-07:00

Perhaps you may have heard of this law. A new "radical", "hardline" law passed in Arizona with malicious intent towards innocents. In the news, on Capitol Hill, and even in foreign countries, perhaps you have seen or heard top officials or journalists decry the law as "racist", "unconstitutional", "fascist", and "reminiscent of Nazi Germany". Some have compared the law to the internment and deportation of Japanese Americans during World War II, or the second-class citizen status of Jews during the Third Reich, or apartheid in South Africa.

Our own president has denounced the law as "misguided" & poorly conceived. He says that the law "threaten[s] to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans".

The Department of Justice's Attorney General Eric Holder stated that the DoJ may go to court to challenge the new law. However, he admitted that he hadn’t actually read the bill very closely before criticizing it. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano also admits she hasn't read the Arizona immigration law, but passed judgment on it anyway.

"That's not the kind of law I would have signed," she says. "I believe it's a bad law enforcement law."

Our State Department has gotten in on the action, defending a diplomat who breached the subject with China. Yes, you read that correctly: China (and during a discussion on human rights, of all topics). He persistently described the law as a gateway to "racial profiling".

All this apologizing and equivocating is going to China, a country famed for human rights abuses including: the government's forced sterilization of women; mass executions; restriction of freedoms of the press, speech, and assembly; & arbitrary arrests, detention, and harassment of Chinese citizens.

The Mexican president Felipe Calderon, Cardinal of the archdiocese of L.A. Roger Mahoney, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, singer Ricky Martin, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, and (apparently) the entire city of San Francisco have leveled similar arguments.

How can so many people possibly be wrong?

I have come to tell you the truth: All this hoopla is a bunch of BS.

Am I the only one who gets the feeling that most of the critics never closely read the entire law? Because it clearly doesn't have any of the problems they assert it does. Never do they rely on facts and never do they cite specific, viable sections.
They just say words and hope they come out in a way that makes sense.

Let me break it down:

Argument #1) the Arizona law "encourages racial profiling". Wrong.
In the text of the law, it clearly states that
“A law enforcement official or agency of this state or a county, city, town, or other political subdivision of this state MAY NOT SOLELY CONSIDER RACE, COLOR OR NATIONAL ORIGIN [emphasis added] in implementing the requirements of this subsection”.

It's written in the law, what more can you want?

Governor Brewer even issued an executive order requiring training to "provide clear guidance to law enforcement officials regarding what constitutes reasonable suspicion, and shall make clear that an individual's race, color or national origin alone cannot be ground for reasonable suspicion to believe any law has been violated."

Argument #2) the law "is unconstitutional" because it "allows the state to enforce federal powers". Also wrong.
Since there is no explicit denial of the power from states or specific grant to the feds over border security, Arizona is exercising its sovereign right under the Constitution’s 10th Amendment:
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Also, not only does the law follow Constitutionality, it also follows legal precedent. A Bush-era memo acknowledges the authority of states to do exactly what Arizona is allowing: state enforcement of government immigration laws. The memo, written in 2002 by the DoJ, reasoned that state law enforcement officers officers have “inherent power” to arrest illegal aliens for violating federal law.

Argument #3) the law is "fascist"... for some reason...
Way, waaay off the mark. This is complete BS. I don't know how they keep a straight face.

First: the fact is that requirements for legal immigrants to carry ID as such has been federal law for over 60 years; legal aliens must carry documentation at all times - and furthermore that’s also the law of the land in Europe, in Canada, and yes, even in Mexico.

Second: few of the critics ever seem to notice the phrase "lawful contact," which defines what must be happening before law enforcement thinks about checking immigration status. A law enforcement officer must have stopped you for some other violation of the law (like speeding or running a red light) or arrested you for some crime (breaking into a house or shooting someone).
No random "harassment" is allowed.

Third: a law enforcement officer is required to possess "reasonable [articulable] suspicion" (which is also clearly defined in previous laws) before he is allowed to ask for identification.

"But Patrick! What possible non-race related reasons could they have?!" You may be asking.
Well, I can think of three:

1. inability to speak English (just saying)
2. absence of any documentation (as legal aliens 18 and older are required to carry anyway)
3. the person is driving an unmarked van across state lines filled with guns, drugs, or
human cargo and won't stop when the police order him/her to stop

(*BTW, a driver's license is ALL that is needed to exonerate one's self from suspicion. You cannot be arrested or detained on suspicion of not-having-a-drivers license, but a driver's license is an immediate dismissal from suspicion. The "carrying your papers around with you" line is BS, pure and simple, unless somehow you feel carrying around your driver's license is too onerous a burden. In which case... grow up. You need your ID when you check into hotels, buy drugs or medicine, go through airport security, or even take a piss nowadays.)

Why the fuss then? This is simply political posturing by the Democrats, getting their Latino base riled up because they're worried about the 2010 election season.

Should they be worried? Yes. Are they helping themselves by dumping on the Arizona law? Not at all. Why? Oh, it's only that the majority of Americans and Arizonans back the law.
Here are some facts:

• Gallup (April 2010) – 51% say they favor it and 39% oppose it
• Bellweather Research poll (April-May 2010) – 62% of voters approve of the Arizona law, with 44% strongly approving
• CBS News/New York Times poll (May 2010) – 60% approve of the law, with 9% saying that it doesn’t go far enough
• Pew Research Center poll (May 2010) – 59% approve of the law overall while 32% disapprove of the law overall.
• FOX News poll (May 2010) – 65 % of American voters think states have right to make their own immigration laws, while 32% disagree; 52% majority favor their own state passing a bill similar to Arizona’s immigration law
• CNN poll (May 2010) – 52% of Arizonans back the law, with 39% opposed

It seems that the majority of Americans can see what politicians and talking heads around the country cannot see: the Arizona Immigration law is a law of desperation, but a necessary one coming from the state with the most kidnapping cases in America, 1.3 million pounds of marijuana confiscated in a single year in Tucson alone, and the longest unsecured border with Mexico.

There are nearly half a million illegal immigrants in Arizona.While illegal immigrants make up 9% of the Arizona population, they are responsible for 22% of the felonies in Arizona and they constitute 11% of the state prison population.

Phoenix has the second-largest kidnapping problem in the world, second only to Mexico City. Kidnapping in Arizona increased 400% between 2004 and 2008, with 70% of the kidnappings involving illegal immigrants. Someone is kidnapped every 35 hours in Phoenix, Ariz. — mostly by illegal alien-smuggling organizations.

Illegal immigrants account for 16.5% of those sentenced for violent crimes; 18.5% of those sentenced for property crimes; 33.5% of those sentenced for the manufacture, sale, or transport of drugs; and 44% of those sentenced or forgery and fraud in the Phoenix area.

According to DoJ statistics, three Border Patrol agents are assaulted every day on average at the U.S. border. The Border Patrol apprehended 241,453 illegals in the Tucson sector alone. Nearly a fifth of all those apprehended already had a U.S. criminal record. In some states, over 90% of the marijuana consumed is from Mexico, much of which is passed through Arizona's long unsecured border.

The law is ten pages long. Read it. You might learn something.

Quotables: Gerald R. Ford

2010-05-03T15:36:00.001-07:00

"When a man is asked to make a speech, the first thing he has to decide is what to say."

"I am a Ford, not a Lincoln."

"If Lincoln were alive today, he'd be turning over in his grave."

"I have had a lot of adversaries in my political life, but no enemies that I can remember."

"Teddy Roosevelt... once said, 'Speak softly and carry a big stick.' Jimmy Carter wants to speak loudly and carry a fly swatter."

"Our constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws, not of men."

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take away everything you have."

"There are no adequate substitutes for father, mother, and children bound together in a loving commitment to nurture and protect. No government, no matter how well-intentioned, can take the place of the family in the scheme of things. "

"Truth is the glue that holds government together. "

"The pat on the back, the arm around the shoulder, the praise for what was done right and the sympathetic nod for what wasn't are as much a part of golf as life itself."

"I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators.

"I watch a lot of baseball on the radio."

"I had a lot of experience with people smarter than I am."

"My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over."

"The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election."

"In all my public and private acts as your president, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end."

"It's the quality of the ordinary, the straight, the square, that accounts for the great stability and success of our nation. It's a quality to be proud of. But it's a quality that many people seem to have neglected."

"For millions of men and women, the church has been the hospital for the soul, the school for the mind, and the safe depository for moral ideas."

"Tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time."

"Things are more like today than they have ever been before. "

- Gerald R. Ford, 38th President of the United States (R), 1974-1977

On Buttons and Politics

2010-04-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

This sums it up:

On 2010 Elections: Who's Vulnerable

2010-04-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

Coming into 2010, we're seeing a lot of discontentment over the recent legislation passed by Congress. In fact, Gallup and Rasmussen both show general trends towards people wanting to vote Republican this year. That's good! We can turn this momentum into a big win this year if we keep focused and try to put forth our best candidates. So here are some lists of Democrats in positions that could (possibly) be vulnerable in the midterm elections this year.

List of Representatives:

Bobby Bright (AL), Harry Mitchell (AZ),
Betsy Markey (CO), Chris Murphy (CT),
Suzanne Kosmas (FL), Alan Grayson (FL),
John Barrow (GA), Walt Minnick (ID),
Mark Schauer (MI), Chris Van Hollen (MD),
Frank Kratovil (MD), Travis Childers (MS),
Larry Kissell (NC), Earl Pomeroy (ND),
Paul Hodes (NH), Carol Shea-Porter (NH),
John Adler (NJ), Harry Teague (NM),
Dina Titus (NV), Michael Arcuri (NY),
Eric Massa (NY), Mike McMahon (NY),
Scott Murphy (NY), Paul Tonko (NY),
John Boccieri (OH), Steve Driehaus (OH),
Mary Jo Kilroy (OH), Jason Altmire (PA),
Chris Carney (PA), Kathy Dahlkemper (PA),
Paul Kanjorski (PA), [the late] John Murtha (PA),
Chet Edwards (TX), Gerry Connolly (VA),
Glenn Nye (VA), and Tom Perriello (VA).

List of Senators:

Blanche Lincoln (AR), Barbara Boxer (CA) ,
Michael Bennet (CO), Chris Dodd (CT),
Beau Biden (DE), Daniel Inouye (HI),
Roland Burris (IL), Evan Bayh (IN),
Kent Conrad (ND), Byron Dorgan (ND),
Harry Reid (NV), and Arlen Specter (PA).

It's open season. Let's get to it.

On "The Party of No"

2010-04-24T22:48:00.000-07:00

Democrats have repeatedly labeled the GOP as the "Party of No". They call us obstructionists with no input, no reasonable solutions, no willingness to compromise, and no answer to their proposals except "No". I gather that they are implying by this that being the "Party of No" is a terrible, terrible thing to be. Okay, I'll play along. Time for a little history lesson.

Yes, we were and still are the Party of NO. The Republican Party was founded in NO. We said NO to all sorts of things.

We said NO to the inhumane institution of slavery.
We said NO to the Southern secession.
We said NO to the ineffectual New Deal.
We said NO to Big Labor.
We said NO to Hitler and the Axis.
We said NO to institutional segregation.
We said NO to racism.
We said NO to Communism.

We've been saying NO to the welfare state.
We've been saying NO to crippling taxes.
We've been saying NO to radical Islamic terrorism.
We've been saying NO to infant abortion.
We've been saying NO to bans on guns.
We've been saying NO to the authoritarian Fairness Doctrine.
We've been saying NO to big government.
We've been saying NO to European-style neosocialism.

Now, we're saying NO to the Democratic agenda and NO to the monstrous law they have finally passed through the Congress.

"Party of NO"? Hardly.

"Party of HELL NO"? Damn right.

Quotables: Barry Goldwater

2010-04-21T16:32:00.001-07:00

"Equality, rightly understood as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences; wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism."

"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

"Where is the politician who has not promised to fight to the death for lower taxes- and who has not proceeded to vote for the very spending projects that make tax cuts impossible?"

"I think any man in business would be foolish to fool around with his secretary. If it's somebody else's secretary, fine."

"I could have ended the war in a month. I could have made North Vietnam look like a mud puddle."

"To insist on strength is not war-mongering. It is peace-mongering."

"You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight."

"I wouldn't trust Nixon from here to that phone."

"The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government."

"Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have."

"If you don't mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter is darn good shaving cream."

"I will offer a choice, not an echo."

"It's a great country, where anybody can grow up to be president... except me."

"The only summit meeting that can succeed is the one that does not take place."

"To disagree, one doesn't have to be disagreeable."

"When I'm not a politician, I'll be dead."

-Barry Goldwater, U.S. Senator from 1953-65 & 1969-87, and Presidential candidate in 1964 (R)

On More Jokes

2010-04-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

COWS

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington? And they tracked her calves to their stalls.

But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

THE CONSTITUTION

They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don’t we just give them ours?

It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we’re not using it anymore.

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS

The real reason that we can’t have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this: You cannot post “Thou Shalt Not Steal,” “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery,” and “Thou Shall Not Lie” in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians.

It creates a hostile work environment.

On Responsibility and Smokers

2010-04-15T16:09:00.000-07:00

On Iran and Bomb Fuel

2010-04-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

Iran currently has the ability to produce bomb-grade fuel and according to the CIA, could hypothetically refine enough fuel for at least one nuclear weapon by the within a year. However, they will "most likely need two to five years to manufacture a workable atomic bomb."

Also, Iran has created their first batch of significantly higher-enriched uranium, from 3.5% to 20% levels. While it still falls short of the 90% mark for weaponry, it is to be noted and Iran should be kept on a close watch.

Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/world/middleeast/15nuke.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/14/world/AP-ML-Iran-Nuclear.html?_r=1

On Democrats vs. Republicans

2010-04-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

REPUBLICAN VIRUS:
Sells off your system resources to the highest bidder.

DEMOCRAT VIRUS:
Doesn't allow you to delete inefficient programs or wasted disc space - if you try, it accuses you of being a 'mean-spirited extremist'.

On 2010 midterm elections

2010-04-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

Bring it on.

On "Racism" in the Tea Parties

2010-04-09T01:12:00.000-07:00

Bullshit. Complete bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit.

Wanna know why? Because I've been there.

Sure, I know: that's not evidence, that's just anecdotal. Maybe the Tea Parties in California aren't representative of the Tea Parties nationwide.

Still, I'm not racist and I was there. Two friends of the family aren't racist and they were there. I talked and discussed topics with the people there, and wouldn't you know it, they weren't racist either. In fact, everyone I talked to had a disapproving opinion of white (or other) supremacist ideology. There were even a couple anti-racism signs at one of the rallies I was at.

This is powerful. On MSNBC especially and various other outlets, they would have you believe that this is an all-white affair with hostility expressed towards people of any color. Not so.

I don't really trust polls all too much, because they're generally unreliable and notoriously fickle, but this Gallup poll of Tea Partiers is encouraging:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/127181/Tea-Partiers-Fairly-Mainstream-Demographics.aspx

Also, a black CNN representative attended about five rallies and asked questions of people, and found that they're really nice people. Check it out:
http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=5996

Yes, the Tea Parties do tilt right and yes, they also are biased towards conservatism and Republicans, but in the end it's grassroots and has got enough Democrats and Independents to make it nonpartisan. There are no oil companies paying them to protest. These are conservatives and moderates we're talking about, people. We normally hate political activism! No oil company could pay any of us enough to become a hippie.

Generally, I find that people who immediately label the Tea Parties "racist" haven't actually been to one.

Do you think that we're racist? Have you been to a Tea Party yet? If not, I recommend that you do. Come to one near me. Bring an open mind, a clear head, a friendly disposition, and a free spirit.

And some drinks. It gets hot out there sometimes.

On Sarah Palin

2010-03-25T23:55:00.001-07:00

Sarah Palin. Hoo-boy.

Lemme start off by saying that this is gonna be a fair appraisal of the Alaskan politician turned conservative, Republican pop star. I will neither go soft nor be excessively scathing. This is my honest-to-God opinion thus far. Okay, here it goes:

I like her personally. I'll admit it. She's charming, spunky, and good-lookin'. She's got character (and an accent, which is bonus points), which is something that immediately grafts (is that the right word?) onto me. I like her personality and I want the best for her and her future.

Which is why I'm not so thrilled about her upcoming reality TV series, "Sarah Palin's Alaska". It doesn't feel right. And that's an important thing for me, the gut feeling, because I support her mostly based on a gut feeling. My gut is telling me that this show is not a good idea.

Okay, she got a commentator position on Fox News, I can understand that. Fox wants to appeal to conservatives, and Palin is appealing. They put two and two together.
Okay, she resigned as governor, I guess I can understand that she got hassled by the MSM. I personally would have stuck it out anyways if I were her, but I can let it slide.

But not this. It would be on the Discovery Channel, so at least it's got that added pinch of salt for the Liberals who are probably gonna get on her case about it. Still, the show idea is just asking for the Left to bash her as a ditz. I mean, heck, it was weird enough when Huckabee got his own show. Why does anyone think this will be a good idea?

I guess I'll just have to see how it turns out before I judge. Who knows? Maybe it'll be a good show. I've enjoyed the Discovery Channel before. Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters, mostly.

Next topic is her resume.

A little inexperienced. I'll say it, it's true. She's not exactly a political veteran. But c'mon, it's not nearly as bad as anyone makes out. Here, I'll show you what I mean:

She went from

Housewife to
Wasilla City Council member (1992-5) to
Two-time mayor of Wasilla (1996-2002) to
2nd place runner-up for Lt. Governor candidate in a 5-way primary (2002) to
Chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (2003-4) to
1 of 3 directors of Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc. (2003-5) to
Alaskan governor (2006-9)

This is all done in a 15 year time-span. Don't tell me that's not at least a little impressive.

Hey, think about it this way: she's a woman in a red state who's done all this and risen pretty far up the ladder. That's some sort of victory for feminism or something, right?

And this is all before her VP of '08 nomination. Afterward, she wrote an autobiography called Going Rouge: An American Life . It quickly became a NY Times #1 best-seller and sold over a million copies (one of only four political autobiographies to do so). Not bad. At least she's got star power.

The Left calls her a ditz. Agreed, she didn't come off as the most well-informed person on the planet in the Katy Couric interview. But I would argue this is as much the fault of the McCain campaign as Sarah Palin's.

She was previously a governor of Alaska, a fairly out-of-the-way state mostly concerned with its own problems. Being brought from the state level to the national level, where mudslinging abounds in such free-flowing quantities, without any preparation doesn't set a good standard. In fact, it was probably her own natural flexibility that kept the interview from being a total disaster.

It bugs me when people dismiss Alaska because "there's nothing there". If there's nothing there, then you should be fine with us drilling there! ;)

Next topic are the critics.

Liberals and Democrats don't like her. Lots even hate her, for some reason. They spew some of the most vile bile about her while still somehow maintaining their "taking the high road" attitude.

Don't believe me? Look at Matt Damon. Look at Keith Olbermann. Look at anything by the Huffington Post. Look at Max Loeber (that's right, I'm talking to you Max). I realize that these people don't represent every single liberal Democrat ever, but suffice to say they represent quite a few.

Sarah Palin has done little to deserve this. Okay, she's not up-to-date on current events; does that make her nomination "like a bad Disney movie", huh Matt?

Oh, and don't get me started on the GOP. Those idiots. Those jackasses. Those moronic Congressional Republicans, those dumb GOP elites, and those blue-blooded jerks of Republican New England don't know a good thing when they see it. Hell, they couldn't tell their asses from a hole in the ground.

Sarah Palin is energy. Pure energy for the base of the modern Republican party: the conservatives. Small-government cons, business cons, and the Christian right can get behind her. She got people excited who were in the conservative core, were weary of their politicians constantly pandering to the demi-liberals and moderates (nothing against moderates, but sometimes it's nice to be the ones being pandered to instead of the ones who always have to pander).

But of course, some neoconservatives, log cabin, libertarians, and even liberal Republicans have to jump on the Democrat snobbery wagon, and look down their noses at Sarah Palin.

Who in Hell's side are you on?! Why do you insist on justifying to the Left that Sarah Palin is apparently "no good for the party"?

This is a feel-good thing for them, I think. They want to show how independent-minded they are by dissing some conservative Republicans with whom they don't agree.

This is wrong. Do you think that getting rid of Sarah Palin will ? Do you think that Sarah Palin is somehow "indicative of the decline of rational debate in politics and blah blah blah"?

You're dead wrong. You're snobs and your snobbery is hurting our party and our cause. What happened to solidarity, man? What happened to professional respect or to empathy? What happened to chivalry?

All because of Sarah Palin, who has done very little to incur your derision, you are willing to split the party and the hopes of a conservative victory. Jeez...

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, Sarah Palin. Right.

In conclusion, Sarah Palin's pretty awesome. Sure, she's not everything one hopes for in a politician, but nobody's perfect- especially not politicians. She has elicited a far harsher response from all sides than she has actually done to deserve any of it. She's accomplished, but for her sake I want her to work more on informing herself and getting more experience in case she wants a Round #2, instead of doing reality TV and writing books.

Still, I like her all the same and have good feelings about her future.

On How Congress "Works"

2010-03-25T22:31:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.
Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.

Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people: one to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer, then hired two people.

Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost." So they laid off the night watchman.

On Obama/Democrat/Liberal Jokes

2010-03-23T21:54:00.001-07:00

Did you hear about the reporter who asked Obama a hard question?
Neither have we!

Whats the difference between God and Obama?
God doesn’t think He’s Obama.

How can you tell a Republican home owner apart from a Democrat home owner?

Ask who is paying the Mortgage. The Republican will point to himself, and the Democrat will also point at the Republican.

Most people worry about getting AIDS from sex.
Bill Clinton worries about not getting sex from aides.

Why did God create Democrats ?
In order to make used car salesmen look good.

How many Democrats does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Just one, but it really gets screwed.

What's the difference between a Democrat and a leech?
A leech quits sucking your blood after you die.

Why should Democrats be buried 100 feet deep?
Because deep down, they're really good people.

What's black and brown and looks good on a Democrat?
A Doberman.

In an article on Northern Ireland, the political party Sinn Fein was described as the political wing of the IRA. I guess that makes the Democratic Party the political wing of the IRS.

What's a conservative?
A liberal who made it through adolescence.

What do UFO's and smart Democrat have in common?
You keep hearing about them, but never see any.

How do you confuse a Democrat?
You don't. They're born that way.

What's the difference between a Democrat and terrorist?
You can negotiate with the terrorist.

What does one say to a Democrat in a three-piece suit?
"Will the defendant please rise?"

What do you have when a group of Democrat are up to their necks in wet concrete?
Not enough concrete.

How many Democrat does it take to change a light bulb?
Four. One Republican to screw the bulb in and four Democrats to tell him how much better they could have done it.

How can you tell when Barack Obama is lying?
Only an Obama supporter is too dumb to know the answer to this one.

What's the difference between a porcupine and Barack Obama's campaign limo?
A porcupine has pricks on the outside.

What happens when you cross a pig with a Democrat?
Nothing. There are some things a pig won't do.

How many Democrats does it take to change a light bulb?
It's irrelevant; they still don't know they're in the dark!

How many republicans does it take to raise your taxes?
None. The Democrats do that.

What is the difference between a liberal and a puppy?
A puppy stops whining after it grows up.

What is the difference between an intelligent liberal and Bigfoot?
Bigfoot has been spotted.

What's the difference between a Democrat and a trampoline?
You take off your shoes before you jump on a trampoline.

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An elderly man suffered a massive heart attack. The family drove wildly to get him to the emergency room.

After what seemed like a very long wait, the ER Doctor appeared, wearing his scrubs and a long face. Sadly, he said, "I'm afraid he is brain-dead, but his heart is still beating."

"Oh, dear God," cried his wife, her hands clasped against her cheeks with shock. "We've never had a Democrat in the family before!"

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Question: You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, a dangerous looking man with a huge knife comes around the corner and is running at you while screaming obscenities. In your hand is a Glock .40 and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family. What do you do?

Liberal Answer: Well, that's not enough information to answer the question! Does the man look poor or oppressed? Have I ever done anything to him that is inspiring him to attack? Could we run away? What does my wife think? What about the kids? Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand? What does the law say about this situation? Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me? Does he definitely want to kill me or would he just be content to wound me? If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me? This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for a few days to try to come to a conclusion.

Conservative Answer: BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Wife: "Sweetheart, he looks like he's still moving. What do you kids think?"
Son: "Mom's right Dad. I saw it too..."

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Daughter: "Nice grouping Daddy!"

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Senator Kennedy was out stumping for votes, as he began to speak a heckler kept shouting, "I'm a Republican!"

Kennedy addressed the heckler, "May I ask why you are a Republican?"

The heckler replied, "My grandfather was a Republican, my father was a Republican and I am a Republican!"

Kennedy retorted, "If your grandfather had been a jackass, and your father had been a jackass, what would you be?"

The heckler replied, "A Democrat!"

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I was talking to a friend of mine and her little girl the other day. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she replied, "I want to be President!" Both of her parents are liberal Democrats and were standing there.

So then I asked her, "If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?"

She replied, "I'd give houses to all the homeless people."

"Wow - what a worthy goal." I told her, "You don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where this homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward a new house."

Since she was only 6, she thought that over for a few seconds. While her Mom glared at me, she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?"

And I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

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"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant. It's just that they know so much that isn't so."
- Ronald Reagan

On Democrats vs. Republicans

2010-03-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

Democrat: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful and vote people into office that put a tax on your cows, forcing you to sell one of your cows to raise enough to pay the tax. The people you voted for take your money, buy a cow with it, and give it to your neighbor. You feel righteous. Barbara Streisand and Bruce Springsteen sing for you.

Republican: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So?

On Democrats: An Amusing Anecdote

2010-03-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below.

She shouted to him, ‘Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.’

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, ‘You’re in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.’

She rolled her eyes and said, ‘You must be a Republican.’

‘I am,’ replied the man. ‘How did you know?’

‘Well,’ answered the balloonist, ‘everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help to me.’

The man smiled and responded, ‘You must be a Democrat.’

‘I am,’ replied the balloonist. ‘How did you know?’

‘Well,’ said the man, ‘you don’t know where you are or where you are going. You’ve risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You’re in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but, somehow, now it’s my fault.’

On Speaking Out More

2010-03-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

Damn it. I am tired.

I am tired of getting pushed around by liberals. I am tired of being made feel like a powerless minority. I am tired of being made out to be a bigot, a simpleton, and a conspiracy theorist for my beliefs. I am tired of having my politics ridiculed, my heroes trash-talked, and my positions degraded as the products of ignorance.

It may sound a little melodramatic, but I am tired of being told what I am. I am tired of clueless morons and know-it-all/know-nothing, pop-culture addicts framing the debate. I am tired of overhearing small chit-chat slandering people who have done nothing wrong, or at least insulting the right person for the wrong reasons. I am tired of the stunning hypocrisy shown by those who would wish to shine their spotlight on what they claim to be our hate. I'm tired of people ignoring the standards, disregard the Constitution, and trample on the Bill of Rights, all in the name of "progress" or "the greater good".

I am tired of sitting there and listening to this crap. I am tired of letting idiocy and ignorance be the norm, the status quo, the hip thing to be. The future is ahead and it's not getting any further away, damn it. If I want to convince people, I have to try. I can't just sit back and hope for the best in 2012. I can't just hope that someday they will see the light. I can't just sit and say nothing, letting others fight my battles for me or attack what I hold dear without putting up a fight. I can't just hide and hope they go away. I cannot let myself be blackmailed by others' disapproval.

I have to get out there and get informed. I have to get active. I have to know what I'm talking about at all times. I have to defend my values, my positions. I have to defend myself and defend those who are on my side. I have to speak out more and make Conservatism a factor in their decision making. I have to "Rock the Vote". I have to make a difference.

I have to speak out and I will.

Just a warning, y'all.

On Communism

2010-03-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

Boy, Communism sucks.

And you can quote me on that.

On Nuking the Moon

2010-03-15T21:28:00.000-07:00

This is hilarious, and I think it could actually work:

http://www.imao.us/docs/NukeTheMoon.htm

On European Opinion

2010-03-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

"Democrats couldn't care less if people in Indiana hate them. But if Europeans curl their lips, liberals can't look at themselves in the mirror."

-Ann Coulter

On Trust

2010-03-09T22:33:00.000-08:00

In life, you may extend your trust to people whom seem to you to be worthy of investment of such, but in the end everybody is inherently... um, untrustworthy, I guess would be the best word.

No one is perfect, and no one is perfectly trustworthy, so I'd like to say this: "The only two people I can trust are myself and God, and I've been acting really shifty recently."

Quotables: Ronald Reagan

2010-03-09T18:03:00.000-08:00

"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement."

"We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free."

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

"Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man."

"Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure."

"Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged."

"A people free to choose will always choose peace."

"Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty."

"Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means."

"People do not make wars; governments do."

"We are never defeated unless we give up on God."

"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under."

"Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face."

"All great change in America begins at the dinner table."

"If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen."

"While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future."

"I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life."

"My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out."

"Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."

"There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect."

"There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."

"There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder."

"We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule."

"I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress."

"Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.

"Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders."

"Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith."

"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."

"Politics is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, coast for a while, and then have a hell of a close."

"Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book."

"I've never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a 'fat cat' and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a 'public-spirited philanthropist'."

"Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the Democrats believe every day is April 15."

"Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets."

"Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."

"Man is not free unless government is limited."

"Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them."

"Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives."

"The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away."

"Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse."

"One way to make sure crime doesn't pay would be to let the government run it."

"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."

"Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing."

"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

"No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!"

"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

"The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much."

"The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination."

"Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States."

"We should measure welfare's success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added."

"Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence."

"Unemployment insurance is a prepaid vacation for freeloaders."

"Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours."

"Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong."

"It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country and put parking stripes on it and still be home by Christmas."

"If the Soviet Union let another political party come into existence, they would still be a one-party state, because everybody would join the other party."

"How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin."

"To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last - but eat you he will."

"We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker."

"The thought of being President frightens me and I do not think I want the job."

"How can a president not be an actor?"

"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself."

"Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying."

"But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret."

"I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting."

"My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes."

"Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

"One picture is worth 1,000 denials."

"Status quo is Latin for 'the mess we're in'."

"Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong."

"When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat."

"A tree's a tree. How many more do you need to look at?"

"Facts are stubborn things."

"Trust, but verify."

"Going to college offered me the chance to play football for four more years."

"It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?"

"Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They're just braver five minutes longer."

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone."

"You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans."

"Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music."

-Ronald Reagan, 4oth President of the United States (R), 1981-1989

On Conservatives vs. Liberals

2010-02-28T21:27:00.000-08:00

"Conservatives view Liberals as political opponents. Liberals view Conservatives as evil incarnate."

A quote from some guy whose name I forget.

On Trippy Movies

2010-02-22T22:43:00.000-08:00

The trippiest movies I have seen? Okay, but it's not a complete list...

In no particular order:

12 Monkeys
The Usual Suspects
Rashomon
Time Bandits
Forbidden Zone
Vertigo
Brazil
Clockwork Orange
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Total Recall
Naked Lunch
Eraserhead
Yellow Submarine
The Twilight Zone
A Beautiful Mind
The Truman Show
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Minority Report

(*not all of these movies are equally mind-blowing or mind-bending)

Quotables: Abraham Lincoln

2010-02-17T15:34:00.001-08:00

"A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have."

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

"A woman is the only thing I am afraid of that I know will not hurt me."

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other."

"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy."

"Ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors to bullets."

"Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm."

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

"Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them."

"Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties."

"Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can.

"Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

"How many legs does a dog have if you say the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it so."

"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong."

"Let not him who is homeless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built."

"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it."

"I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."

"I don't like that man. I must get to know him better."

"I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day."

"I don't know who my grandfather was; I am more concerned to know what his grandson will be."

"I hope to stand firm enough to not go backward, and yet not go forward fast enough to wreck the country's cause."

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.

"I walk slowly, but I never walk backward."

"If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?"

"If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance."

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee."

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

"Knavery and flattery are blood relations."

"Marriage is neither heaven nor hell, it is simply purgatory."

"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

"My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure."

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

"Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this."

"Republicans are for both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the man before the dollar."

"The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them."

"Whatever you are, be a good one."

"When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion."

"With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die."

"We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it."

"You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence."

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

"Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world."

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."

"Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."

"My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth."

-Abraham "Honest Abe" Lincoln, 16th president of the United States, 1861-1865

On Climate Change

2010-02-17T15:23:00.000-08:00

Is there anything global warming can't do?

Oh, I'm sorry Keith Olbermann, it's climate change now. That's right: in order to keep from being proved wrong, the Enviro-detrimentalist movement decided to make their terminology a bit more vague. So now, no matter what happens, they can seize upon any change in the weather as "evidence of man-made climate change".

(There's nothing that inspires confidence in your agenda quite like changing all the terminology so that it doesn't seem so completely delusional)

All of this comes in spite of massive snow storms burying the East coast of the US in as much as 2 and 1/2 feet in some places.

To be honest, Al Gore is just really, reaally irritating. Seriously, how many people here want him to just go away?

That's what I thought.

Quotables: Dwight D. Eisenhower

2010-02-16T19:56:00.001-08:00

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."

"Ankles are nearly always neat and good-looking, but knees are nearly always not."

"Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy."

"Don't join the book burners. Do not think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed."

"Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field."

"From behind the Iron Curtain, there are signs that tyranny is in trouble and reminders that its structure is as brittle as its surface is hard."

"Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion."

"How far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?"

"Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends."

"I can think of nothing more boring for the American people than to have to sit in their living rooms for a whole half hour looking at my face on their television screens. "

"I deplore the need or the use of troops anywhere to get American citizens to obey the orders of constituted courts."

"I have found out in later years that we were very poor, but the glory of America is that we didn't know it then."

"I have only one yardstick by which I test every major problem - and that yardstick is: Is it good for America?"

"I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it."

"I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him, he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone."

"I'm saving that rocker for the day when I feel as old as I really am."

"If men can develop weapons that are so terrifying as to make the thought of global war include almost a sentence for suicide, you would think that man's intelligence and his comprehension... would include also his ability to find a peaceful solution."

"If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking is freedom. "

"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid."

"I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

"In the final choice a soldier's pack is not so heavy as a prisoner's chains."

"I thought it completely absurd to mention my name in the same breath as the presidency."

"It is far more important to be able to hit the target than it is to haggle over who makes a weapon or who pulls a trigger."

"Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him."

"Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free."

"Only strength can cooperate. Weakness can only beg."

"Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin."

"Some people wanted champagne and caviar when they should have had beer and hot dogs."

"An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows."

"The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice; their choice!"

"The purpose is clear. It is safety with solvency. The country is entitled to both."

"The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation than its wealth."

"The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office."

"We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security."

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog."

"You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership."

"When you are in any contest, you should work as if there were - to the very last minute - a chance to lose it. This is battle, this is politics, this is anything."

"You have a row of dominoes set up; you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is that it will go over very quickly."

"There are a number of things wrong with Washington. One of them is that everyone is too far from home."

"Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the heart of America."

"Things are more like they are now than they ever were before."

"There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence, and energy of her citizens cannot cure."

"Oh, that lovely title, ex-president."

-Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower, five-star general in the U.S. Army and 34th President (R) of the United States, 1953-1961

Quotables: Calvin Coolidge

2010-02-15T20:15:00.001-08:00

"All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work."

"Any man who does not like dogs and want them about does not deserve to be in the White House."

"Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas."

"Civilization and profit go hand in hand."

"Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery."

"Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong."

"Duty is not collective; it is personal."

"Economy is the method by which we prepare today to afford the improvements of tomorrow."

"Four-fifths of all our troubles would disappear, if we would only sit down and keep still."

"Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion."

"I have found it advisable not to give too much heed to what people say when I am trying to accomplish something of consequence. Invariably they proclaim it can't be done. I deem that the very best time to make the effort."

"I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement."

"If I had permitted my failures, or what seemed to me at the time a lack of success, to discourage me I cannot see any way in which I would ever have made progress."

"Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character."

"If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it."

"It is only when men begin to worship that they begin to grow."

"It takes a great man to be a good listener."

"No man ever listened himself out of a job."

"Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. It may not be difficult to store up in the mind a vast quantity of face within a comparatively short time, but the ability to form judgments requires the severe discipline of hard work and the tempering heat of experience and maturity."

"Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good."

"Men speak of natural rights, but I challenge any one to show where in nature any rights existed or were recognized until there was established for their declaration and protection a duly promulgated body of corresponding laws."

"Never go out to meet trouble. If you just sit still, nine cases out of ten, someone will intercept it before it reaches you."

"No enterprise can exist for itself alone. It ministers to some great need, it performs some great service, not for itself, but for others; or failing therein, it ceases to be profitable and ceases to exist."

"No nation ever had an army large enough to guarantee it against attack in time of peace, or ensure it of victory in time of war."

"No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave."

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. "

"Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country."

"Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business."

"Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshiped."

"The business of America is business."

"The government of the United States is a device for maintaining in perpetuity the rights of the people, with the ultimate extinction of all privileged classes. "

"The man who builds a factory builds a temple, that the man who works there worships there, and to each is due, not scorn and blame, but reverence and praise."

"The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten."

"The right thing to do never requires any subterfuge, it is always simple and direct."

"There is no force so democratic as the force of an ideal."

"There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no one independence quite so important, as living within your means."

"You know, I have found out in the course of a long public life that the things I did not say never hurt me."

"They criticize me for harping on the obvious; if all the folks in the United States would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves."

"Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance."

"Ultimately property rights and personal rights are the same thing."

"We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once."

"We do not need more intellectual power, we need more spiritual power. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen."

"We draw our Presidents from the people. It is a wholesome thing for them to return to the people. I came from them. I wish to be one of them again."

"We need more of the Office Desk and less of the Show Window in politics. Let men in office substitute the midnight oil for the limelight."

"To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race."

"When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment results."

"When people are bewildered they tend to become credulous."

"You can't know too much, but you can say too much."

- Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (R), 1923-1929

On Funny Pictures

2010-02-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry, but this is both funny and accurate for me (except for the fact that I have not had any college level education yet):

The Tenants of My Conservatism, Part 1

2010-02-06T21:32:00.001-08:00

Fiscal Conservatism

I believe in fiscal conservatism. "Why Patrick, what is fiscal conservatism?" you may be asking. I shall attempt to answer this question, by explaining the principles behind this idea in the next few paragraphs.

Fiscal conservatism is hemmed in by 2 main ideas, all to promote a single noble goal.

Idea #1: Fiscal Responsibility. This is the idea that the government should, simply put, be responsible with its money, to which it is lent by the taxpayer, and keep its checkbooks balanced and in order. It does this with three policies:

-Less taxation and fewer taxes.

The government does not have unlimited power to take the money of its people and should take away unnecessary taxes whenever they make it into the budget. The government should always be looking to take tax loads off the American people and find ways to lower tax rates and eliminate entire taxes on certain things. Why? Because of the underlying principle that we as conservatives believe that if we're smart enough and work hard enough to earn the money, then we are smart and hardworking enough to keep it, and that the US government has no "right" to our money. Our hard-earned money for Washington to spend is a privilege that they should never abuse. Cutting taxes for America is a high priority and a noble cause.

-Less government spending.

Government has never been effective at micromanaging peoples lives and should always seek to limit the amount of spending they commit on anything. The government should always seek to cut wasteful, unneeded, or wrongful spending from their budgets.

-Balancing the budget.

Those who balance the budget in Washington and in all government should remember that the state of the nation needs to set an example for all people. The amount of spending must be matched by the amount of taxation: A) too much taxation with little spending drains the public of their hard-earned taxes, and B) too much spending with no taxation to match will inevitably bankrupt the government with a terrible deficit. Either scenario results in a deficit of trust amongst the people of the country and must be avoided. Also, large foreign-held deficits are dangerous to our national and economic security, and as such must be avoided by keeping spending to a minimum.

Between less taxes, less government spending, and a commitment to balance the budget, true fiscal conservatism is the only way to go when it comes to responsibility in our government.

Idea #2: Economic freedom. This is the principle of limiting the extent and power of the government in peoples lives and anywhere. The government should never be allotted powers it doesn't have and should be at every point denied the role of busybody in private affairs. This is done by the following:

- Keep the government out of the private sector.

When the government gets involved in the areas of business and sticks its puppet hands into the economy, bad things happen. Nationalization is the first step towards anything socialist- or even, dare I say, Communist- as is the government subsidization of private entities. Freedom and prosperity are too often infringed when the government makes decisions about supply and demand in the name of "equality".

- Support of a free and laissez-faire market.

Regulation is not necessarily a bad thing; indeed, some companies and people will do bad things to make a buck. Still, the principles of a free and productive market dictate that regulation too often strangles business with ordinances, licenses, subsidies, and protectionism (oh my!). Free trade and a minimally regulated market are the only ways to truly insure prosperity for all and not step on anyone's civil liberties. On the other hand, protectionism only hurts the people it claims to "protect", engages people in a dangerous xenophobic mentality, and chokes true prosperity into the dust.

- The government cannot and should not protect people from themselves.

When push comes to shove, the worst part about a nosy government is a look into the personal life of a man or woman. The worst kind of government is one that claims the moral/ethical high ground in its efforts to take away the freedoms and rights of the people. To legislate the rules of fair play in business settings goes against the very principles of our country's leaders, founders, and framers. Power is the big prize in government, and it will do anything it can to get that power. Remember that a less intrusive government is always a better government, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

In summary, the ideals of a smaller government, laissez-faire economics, and free trade ensure the freedom of prosperity and the freedom to prosper for the people. That is good and wholesome for the nation and for the people of this nation.

In the end, fiscal freedom and responsibility are the best and only way to ensure the defense of freedom in our government, for they are the principles of a free and prosperous nation.

On Bumper Stickers

2010-02-06T14:12:00.000-08:00

I'm not a huge fan of bumper stickers, but these are some I'd put on my car:

On Iran's Rockets

2010-02-04T15:45:00.000-08:00

Scary: (Feb. 3rd, 201) the Iranian regime announced that they had successfully launched a 10-foot long rocket into the lower reaches of space with living passengers.

Hilarious: The new group of national space heroes is comprised of a mouse, two turtles, and some worms.

I feel this is both furthers proof of the dangerous nature and capacity that is being developed with great religious zeal to build up their own regional hegemony, and of the insanity contained in the heads of these fellows.

But some facts:

-Kavoshgar-3's launch was announced by Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi as part of Iran’s ambitious space program.

-Ahmadinejad praised the latest launch and said greater events would come in the future. “The scientific arena is where we could defeat the (West’s) domination,” Ahmadinejad said in remarks broadcast on TV.

-Also, Iran unveiled a new, domestically-built light booster rocket, named Simorgh, as well as three Iranian-built satellites—Mesbah-2, Tolo, and Navid-e-Elm-o-Sanat.

-Officials said the Simorgh rocket can carry 220 pounds (100 kg) up to 310 miles (500 km) above the Earth.

-Iran also has the stated goal of "a man in space" within roughly 10 years

-(2005) Iran launched its first commercial satellite on a Russian rocket in a joint project with Moscow, which is a partner in transferring space technology to Iran.

-(2005) the government said it had allocated $500 million for space projects for the next five years

-(Feb. 2008) Iran launches Kavoshgar-1 towards space.

-(Nov. 2008) Kavoshgar-2 made it to the lower reaches of space and returned to earth 40 minutes later on a parachute.

-(Feb. 2009) Iran launches the Omid satellite into orbit.

My source: http://dailycaller.com/2010/02/03/iran-launches-rocket-carrying-animals-into-space/

On Norman Rockwell

2010-02-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

Norman Rockwell's birthday is today.

I love his paintings. They really touch the heart.

Current News: US Boosts Anti-missile Defenses in Middle East

2010-02-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

A good decision made by the administration: President Obama has both increased the number of Patriot missile defenses in the Middle East and the number of anti-missile ships in the Persian Gulf. After a year or so of trying easygoing diplomacy, it seems that the US has decided to change its tone and put on some real pressure on Iran. Secretary Clinton also has talked to China about sanctions.

Gen. Petraeus discussed the deployment in Washington on Jan. 22. He said that four Middle Eastern countries now have two Patriot missile batteries each.

"Iran is clearly seen as a very serious threat by those on the other side of the gulf front," he said.

An official stated that "the countries are Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain".

Sources:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/01/30/US-surrounds-Iran-with-missile-defenses/UPI-35791264910305/

On GOP wins Senate seat for MA

2010-01-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

This was a pleasant surprise: Scott Brown (R) wins a national senate seat for the true blue state of Massachusetts!

Here's a link to the Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703837004575013120573610774.html

Wow, I can't believe it. He won a five point victory or so. Combine this with the local wins in the Virginia and New Jersey, and I'm starting to get infected with a little Tea Party enthusiasm. Still, I think it's better if I keep myself merely hopefully optimistic. No point in getting carried away now.

Democrats in Washington got set blaming the loss on his opponent Martha Coakley (D) and claimed that her campaign didn't try hard enough. Coakley responded by placing the defeat squarely on the shoulders of Democrats in Washington, saying that they gave her feeble support, didn't pay attention to the signs of a closer margin than anticipated, and basically came in too little, too few, too feeble, too apathetic, and too late.

Still, bravo to Massachusetts, Republicans & Independents alike, Americans, and yes, Scott Brown.

Scott, best of wishes and no matter what, just keep on truckin'.

On Pat Robertson

2010-01-13T15:24:00.000-08:00

I may be a Christian conservative, but I don't much care for Rev. Pat Robertson. He's a douche, to be rather frank. The statements he makes all make the rest of us God-loving, red-state conservatives look like cretins.

I've also never liked nor trusted people who go on t.v. and ask for money (that includes any men of God who do that).

That is all.

On Obama and Counter-terrorism

2010-01-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

I recently read this article on http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=9502973. This is merely a response to the news on it.

So according to this, President Obama is resolving to take more personal responsibility and hold his administration more accountable with fighting terrorism. I applaud him for saying that and think that's a good idea. That's the kind of thing we want him to succeed at, not fail.

However, I am worried that like so many times before that this is merely posturing in the wake of recent events. Actions speak louder than words, and our President unfortunately is pissing off us conservatives with his leftist rhetoric and weak action on the international stage, and (from what I can understand) the liberal activists who got him elected for his lack of action on their to-do list.

If he really means what he says in this speech, all the better. If not, shame on him and one less reason for reelection.

On Republicans/Conservatives in Hollywood

2010-01-03T11:32:00.000-08:00

I thought that it would be amusing to see how many celebrities, famous people, or actors/actresses were indeed conservative, right-libertarian, or otherwise affiliated with the GOP.

This is the list I cam up with:

Adam Sandler
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Patricia Heaton
Burt Bacharach
Angie Harmon
Kelsey Grammar
Mel Gibson
Kurt Russell
Tony Danza
Rip Torn
Bill Cosby (?)
Denzel Washington
Patrick Warburton
Nancy Cartwright
John Ratzenberger
Anderson Cooper
Tom Clancy
Jon Voight
Bob Hope
Pat Boone
Buzz Aldrin
Neil Armstrong
Sarah Michelle Gellar
James Belushi
Robert Duvall
Robert Downey, Jr.
James Earl Jones (unsure)
Matt Stone
Trey Parker
Wilford Brimley
Clint Eastwood
Yogi Berra
Sylvester Stallone
Heather Locklear
Dan Marino
Tom Selleck
John Malkovich
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Angelina Jolie
Matthew McConaughey
Leslie Nielson
Shirley Temple
Ted Nugent
Mickey Rooney
Vince Vaughn
Bruce Willis
Ben Stein
James Woods
Steve Baldwin

and

Chuck Norris. Period.

An impressive list. Perhaps not as awe-inspiring as the whole Bruce Springsteen-Barbara Streisand-50 Cent-Tom Hanks draw, but an interesting hand nonetheless. To be honest, before I compiled this list I was unaware of these people's affiliations. I guess they aren't as open as the Dems are about their affiliations or whatever.

Merry Christmas II

2009-12-24T13:37:00.000-08:00

And a Happy New Years. Happy tidings of comfort and joy. I hope everyone has a very happy holidays full of the love of the season.

Happy birthday, Jesus. Good luck tonight, Santa.

On the First Year

2009-12-17T15:21:00.000-08:00

This is a little late- about two days late- but I gotta say it:

Happy Birthday, Realpolitik!

On the Personal Mandate

2009-12-09T12:24:00.000-08:00

Heritage has got it right on this one.

Check it out: http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed100609b.cfm

On the Green Party

2009-12-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

I don't like the Green Party's ideology, but they've been fairly successful for a third party, so I guess I have to research them.

Their Ten Principles are basically these:

1. Grassroots Democracy

2. Social justice

3. Ecological Wisdom (environmentalism)

4. Pacifism

5. Decentralization

6. Community-based economics (technically communism, with a lower-case "c")

7. Feminism

8. Multiculturalism

9. Ecological & Personal Responsibility (environmentalism)

10. Future Focus & Sustainability (environmentalism)

Well, that about sums it up.

It seems that they're made up of hippies, pacifists, communists (lower-case), and feminists who don't think the Democratic Party is doing a good enough job.

In 2000, Ralph Nader ran on the Green Party ticket, garnering a mildly impressive 2.74% of the popular vote. It missed the 5% required for public funding, but qualified it to be on the ballot in quite a few states. The Green Party was most popular in Alaska, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Minnesota, California, Montana, Hawaii, Maine, and D.C. (not in that order).

On Cap and Trade/Climategate

2009-12-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

Whew boy. Cap & Trade sure is going to get passed. Okay, so the GOP has a chance, but I'm going to be honest with myself; the Dems have the majority in Congress, if not the American people.

It seems that although Congress is 60 senators and 258 representatives Democratic, only

30% of people in the USA see global warming as a top priority. In fact only 57% now feel that there is solid scientific evidence of global warming, as opposed to 77% in 2006 and 2007.

Cap and trade taxes aim to discourage the use of high-carbon fossil fuel usage by taxing carbon dioxide emissions, and thus attacking coal, oil and gas as energy and fuel. The tax will have to be high in order to work as the Left wants it to work, which is what worries me. This could really destroy our economy while giving growing giants, like China, a free pass on their emissions.

One thing about this though, is that it's going to most harshly affect those who are truly the people who can't afford to lose much more.

Who am I talking about? Well, I'm talking about all of America, but I guess I could list an example. We'll say farmers.

Farmers? That's right, farmers. Rural people, growers, ranchers, land-workers, and agrarians. "Wait a sec, Patrick. These people are self-sufficient masters of the land. What do they care?"

Farmers need fertilizer, fuel, and pesticides - all are oil-derived products. They need oil for their tractors, feeders, crops, trucks, and cars. Work that used to be completed by farmhands must be done by machines. They can't take the bus to work or to town. There are no BART stations. They can't bicycle their crops around.

Even those who aren't necessarily farmers must drive miles merely to get to another homestead. When oil prices skyrocketed earlier this year and last, average expenses for farmers nearly tripled. Farmland has been on a steady decline in value since the Industrial Revolution.

I'm not saying global warming, or climate change, or whatever is a complete falsehood, but I am saying this: I've seen the science and I still have my doubts. People talk about how science is on their side and they're just looking at the facts. Well, see the thing is, since science is one of my two major passions, I know that science is not definite. Scientists know that data an be interpreted every which way by anyone who wants to see something that isn't or to deny something that is.

This is an important issue, this debate on global climate change. It can have severe consequences on the way we live in and think about our world. That's why those who hold skepticism about such phenomenon shouldn't be criticized and ostracized. Science is a search for truth, and what kind of truth completely shuts down any opposing voices?

One thing Mark Twain once said is that "A lie is halfway around the world before the truth can put it's shoes on". If we truly want this resolved, we shouldn't be blindly rushing into treaties and taxes that could easily stunt our economy and destroy incentive for business. This could have serious repercussions and isn't nearly as cut and dry as some would pressure you to believe.

We need alternative energy and we need to protect the environment, but not at the expense of careers and lives of American citizens. Our country is deeply entrenched in oil, gas, and coal. Taxing it won't help. Providing alternatives will.

Farmers, families, businesses, medicine, transportation, and will all be affected by the choices that will be discussed at the Copenhagen event soon. I don't have high hopes that it's results will either be effective at reducing the threat of climate change or reducing the threat of nut jobs who want to capitalize on pompous, yuppie "Gone Greens". However, it's always good to observe.

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1390/why-do-fewer-americans-believe-the-earth-is-warming

On the Anti-war Left vs. Our Strategy in Afghanistan

2009-12-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

Man, I cannot believe the Anti-war Left. They are just the biggest group of idiots, the heads of which are people like Michael Moore and organizations like Code Pink and MoveOn.org. They just can't leave foreign policy alone, can they?

You'd think they'd stop after insisting that the President withdraw from Iraq. But NO. They feel they must call for our withdrawal from Afghanistan as well, which has almost always been thought of in most peoples minds as "the good war".

The Anti-war Left are perhaps my least favorite group in the whole leftist coalition (that may sound almost conspiratorial, but I'm just being honest. It's something of a coalition, just ask FDR).

The surge is just what we need, although 30,000 troops is not all we need. General McCrystal specifically requested a surge of 80,000. This combination of dithering for a while and then compromising in the Anti-war Left's favor is clear politics. The Left got some compromise, why are they so upset?

Don't get me started on the July 2011 timetable.

I hate to sound repetitive, derivative, or contrived, but... I say that success is the best exit strategy.

On Sitcoms

2009-11-12T23:16:00.000-08:00

Whatever happened to them? Seems like all that's on nowadays are reality shows. Some of them are good, but more often than not they're trashy.

You may not agree on the position or inclusion of some of these, but if you can at least agree the majority of these shows deserve to be somewhere on the list, I think we'll get along just fine.

My favorite sitcoms:
- Frasier
- Wings
- Cheers
- I Love Lucy
- Home Improvement
- The Addams Family
- Bewitched
- Seinfeld
- South Park
- The Simpsons
- King of the Hill
- Futurama
- The Office (US version, although the UK version is good too)
- Andy Griffith Show
- Get Smart
- I Dream of Jeanie
- Beverly Hillbillies
- Malcom in the Middle
- Hogan's Heroes

On Jesus and Communism

2009-10-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

You know what's a bunch of BS? Morons who claim that "Jesus was Communist".

They cite the throwing of the moneychangers out of the temple. They claim that shows he didn't support a free-market economy.

That just goes to show they don't understand the passage at all. They ignore/gloss over a certain phrase: "out of the TEMPLE". Jesus didn't want the holy and sacred place of worship turned into a market of greed and pettiness. Now, the Jesus=commie group would like us to believe that it's irrelevant because God=state anyway. That's the idea I'm getting anyway.

I also get a lot about the passage about "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." Again, Jesus is not compelling the government (ie. God in some circles) to take rich people's possessions away. It's all voluntary; he's saying "If you want to get into heaven, but your attachment to worldly things is getting in the way, it'd be better if you didn't have so many things." But then, Communists don't believe in heaven. Unless they're "communists", with a lower case "c", but that's something else.

Sometimes the parts about "turn the other cheek", "love thy enemy as thyself", "blessed are the peacemakers", "blessed are the meek", "blessed are the merciful", and even "give us this day our daily bread" are used. If I need to tell you why these are all weak defensives to this idea, you should get an MRI. Or a theology class.

"Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors"? Really? Does any moron really thinks he means this literally?

Oh, and let's not forget that they say "Oh well, Jesus healed sick people, so he's totally in favor free healthcare". That's because they were shunned by society and these individuals were metaphors for faith and encouraged others to return to God.

I can't make stuff up like this, people.

In fact, I may point out that the Bible has far more encouraging people to become wealthy, prosper, and do well on Earth by the fruits of their labor. But not according to these people, who insist on nitpicking the sacred book for quotes that only look like they support their argument.

They even go as far as claiming they're backed by what's not even in the Bible, that somehow because it's missing, they're vindicated!

Kids, do we need any more reason not to become atheists? If anything, it teaches or encourages permissiveness towards not tolerating faith.

I'm not saying that all atheists or communist Christians are like this, but it ain't exactly Hindus and Buddhists making these claims.

On Character vs. Plot

2009-10-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or are character-driven shows, books, and movies more interesting and consistently good than plot-driven drivel?

For example, Twilight is plot-driven. The characters are flat, cut-and-paste, and don't develop. The twists and turns of the plot are the only things keeping people reading. It's pulp fiction.

On the other hand, Cheers is a character-driven show. You take a bunch of interesting people and put them in a bar and let them bounce off each other. They hardly ever have scenes take place outside that one bar.

And it's hilarious.

On Country Music Derrangement Syndrome

2009-10-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

People hate country. Why? "Because it SUCKS!"... "Because it's all the same"... "Because it's about white guys crying in their beer".

Y'know, whiny statements like that. I don't think these people ever stop to ask themselves about why they hate . They hate it for a few barely-justified reasons. They hate it because their friends hate it, because their peers tell them to hate it, and because the culture is designed to hate it.

People who say they hate Country music often haven't heard all the separate subgenres and sounds in it. "Well, like, I've heard lots of Country and I stiiiiiillllll hate it!"

Hey moron. Maybe that's because the only Country music you ever hear is on the radio. Maybe that's because you only listen to a certain artist. Maybe that's because you think people like Billy Ray Cyrus and Nickelback exemplify Country music (Nickelback isn't even a Country group, you idiots). What I really mean to say is: all you casual music listeners out there, you guys ain't the best judge of diversity. You listen to whatever happens to be playing on the radio. That means that the radio shows only play what's popular and therefore not a broad selection of a genre.

No one in their sane mind would generalize about all of a certain genre when it has subgroups. For example, if I were to say that Heavy Metal sucks on the basis of, say, how glam metal is, all of the Death, Thrash, and Doom Metal fans would immediately lambaste me, correct? Why make an exception for Country? (Because you're crazy, that's why)

Cowboy fashion? Please. Goths, punks, metal-heads, and hip hop artists all dress the weirdest of ways. Why is Country so special?

People (at least out where I am in California) act this way when they encounter anything to do with the South, Texas, and Bush as well.

All this and more is why I propose a new mental disorder: Country Derangement Syndrome. The definition is "the acute onset of paranoia and intense emotion in otherwise normal people in reaction to the musical sound, the mention — nay — the very existence of Country music".

The symptoms include:

- Holding the belief that people with Southern, Midwestern, Texan, or Mountain accents can't possibly be intelligent

- An irrational aversion to Stetsons and cowboy boots

- Believing that Country music is dominated by white men

- Often state that "Country SUCKS" and saying the reason for that is "Because it DOES"

- Stating that Country only sings about men losing their wives, homes, and dogs, then getting drunk ignoring the facts that
A) they cannot, as of yet, name a single song that deals with these supposed subjects
B) other genres barely deviate from a single subject (I'm talking to you, Anarcho-punk)

- Being emotional and negative about the supposed twangy sound of the guitars, while ignoring the fact that Rock 'n' Roll takes much of its sound from Country

I think it is hereditary, although a good portion may have to do with where you grew up. It increases with proximity to others who share the same opinion.

Be careful though: enough of these people get together, and they could theoretically spew enough acid to melt through seven inches of steel.

On Climate Change

2009-10-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

(For October 15th)

I'm a day early for the thing Blogger is doing, but I'll post anyway.

A*hem. "Climate change": the new official term, previously known as "global warming". So, instead of the Earth specifically warming up, the Earth is just changing (in what direction, we don't know, but it's definitely changing).

I cannot back some of what I am saying, but I understand from global trends that the Earth is indeed warming. So, is the globe warming? As far as we can tell. Could it cause problems in the future? That's a safe guess. Will lowland people be flooded more often? Generally. Will hurricanes intensify and occur more often? Tough to say, but it's likely. Will extreme weather patterns become more frequent? Maybe. Will certain climates' natural resources face challenges? A safe bet. Will New York be flooded up to the Statue of Liberty? Um, no.

Are we, the human race, largely responsible and accountable for this "global warming"? Well, that's hard to prove. While I don't deny that due to technology improvements, we yield a great deal of power, but for people to immediately assume that we are the sole/major cause for climate change? We're only one species in a whole world. It's a lot to assume.

For instance, our data is fairly incomplete, considering how long the Earth has been around (4.55 billion years) versus the tiny fraction of that time since humanity kept written records (roughly 5,000 years). Not to mention the Industrial Revolution only began about 1700 a.d., so that's only 300 years of relevant info to make conclusions about world-wide multi-century phenomena.

And for them to jump immediately to the conclusion that we are solely/majorly responsible raises the question, why would they jump so quickly to this conclusion?

I don't think it's because they have a radiant love for all mankind. I posit that these are the same people who advocate throwing paint on people wearing fur coats for PETA, who believe that mankind is an evil species that has lost it's touch with nature, or say that Fern Gully should be a mandatory video to be shown in schools. The kind of people who don't question what Al Gore tells them and cry their hearts out when they see a polar bear on a tiny iceberg. The kind who would burn a Walmart to the ground and preach down to Hummer-owners, all to make them feel better about themselves.

I'm not a fan of those people.

I don't want to destroy the environment, and if there is a negative trend on the global scale, I want to stop it. However, no one wants to associate themselves with pricks, jerks, a**-holes, and pompous morons who do the popular thing to feel self-righteous.

The best way to save the environment is provide incentives for businesses, the most powerful forces in the world, to go green.... not to riot outside the panda exhibit at the zoo.

On Negotiation with Iran

2009-10-12T19:49:00.001-07:00

The strategy of the present administration to hold off sanctions on Iran in the hopes of getting something out of negotiations disappoints and concerns me. With the worries of an ever-increasing stockpile of enriched uranium and body of technical knowledge, Iran stands nearer and nearer to a position of creating a nuclear device.

As U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gibbs said, "Every administration since (the Iranian revolution) has reached out to the Iranians in one way or another and all have failed".

And he's right. I can list the number of presidents who reached out to Iran and were rejected:
- Pres. Carter
- Pres. Reagan
- Pres. HW Bush
- Pres. Clinton
- Pres. Bush, Jr.

A pretty comprehensive list, no? Sanctions have been employed on and off, and though they do indeed merit some praise for their effectiveness, sanctions are simply not enough.

Negotiation alone will not work either. Especially if one is not prepared to use such sanctions and harsher measures, but instead intends to use talks as their only tool. The West not only needs a big stick, but an extended hand for the brave Iranians opposing the regime.

If you want:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471504574442901560824682.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

On How Women Dress

2009-10-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, ladies can be weird.

For example: wearing clothes that show a lot of skin. Things like v-necks, miniskirts, tank tops, and short shorts. Really? You think you're going to attract more guys that way? Maybe more guys, but ones you won't like. You'll get more degenerates, perverts, and jerks wearing those kinds of clothes, than guys you'd actually want a relationship with.

They claim it's sexy. No. Curves are sexy. Sure, tastes differ from guy to guy on skinny vs. fatty, but overall the preference tends toward smooth, plump, and/or curvy. Showing skin is all well and nice, but it's pointless if there's no curves to show. That goes for you, you bulemics and anorexians. If you're going to decide whether or not to eat for sexiness, err on the side of fat rather than skeleton-woman.

Besides, isn't the whole point of romance is to LIE? Or at least to hide or exaggerate the truth. Now how can you do that if you expose anything that doesn't have a law against it? The only reason some guys like miniskirts is because there's less cloth to get in the way of reaching up it (just being frank here). Clothes for attraction should suggest, not display. Even when it comes to those thin-as-you-can-get models on the runways, there is some tiny voice in the back of the man's head that says "Of course, if she were my wife, I'd wish she'd wear nicer clothes in public".

In fact, skelewomen showing as much skin as possible is rather, shall we say, disturbing. Really, if you want my opinion, wear long sleeves.

Turtlenecks are nice. Why don't more girls wear turtlenecks?

On Foreign Policy

2009-09-30T21:43:00.001-07:00

If I were President or of some high office, do you know what my foreign policy would be?

"Don't start none, won't be none." Yup.

On Anarchy

2009-09-28T12:05:00.001-07:00

Anarchy may not be perfect, but it's better than no government at all.

...

On Moths

2009-09-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

As we all know, moths fly towards lightbulbs at night. Why? Well, the accepted reason is that they are simply attracted to the light somehow, or are at least blinded by it so that they have no clue what they're doing.

Someone tried to tell me that "moths were actually not attracted to the light, but were in fact trying to reach the darkest part of the room which is directly behind the lightbulb."

Does that make sense to anyone? Someone qualified is going to have to explain that to me because that doesn't make sense at all. Okay, this is why:

- Why would it fly towards the darkest point in the room?

- If it was trying to reach the darkest point, how would the moth know where to go or where the darkest point is?

- Since when is the point behind the light the darkest?

- What about the lights that are imbedded in ceilings? Moths fly towards them anyway, even though there's no room to go behind.

- If a moth flys to the darkest point, why does it always seem to try to get there by going through the lightbulb? That seems pretty ineffective, even for an insect.

-What about lights outside? The darkest point would be as far away from the light as the moth can get! Why does it still hang around?

- Then how do bug-zappers work?

That is all. Jeff, you're an idiot. Moths are attracted/blinded by the light, get over it.

On My Favorite Cartoons

2009-09-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

There seem to be two kinds of cartoons when one talks about "the best": there are the ones that you appreciate as genius and there are the ones you grew up with. Sometimes they overlap, sometimes they don't.

The cartoons I grew up with include: The Magic School Bus, Pokemon (season 1), near the end of Hey Arnold!, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, somewhat Rugrats (at the time, I despised the show, but now I look back and I really like it), Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, the last showings of Cow & Chicken; Johnny Bravo; and CatDog, again the end seasons of Doug, Spongebob Squarepants (of course), and that's all I can think of.

The cartoons I currently admire and enjoy watching:

Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid! , Spongebob Squarepants (the pre-movie seasons are the best/better/good, period), Road Rovers, Dilbert, The Simpsons, Futurama, South Park, Dexter's Laboratory, King of the Hill, Johnny Bravo, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Rugrats, etc.

On Warmongering

2009-09-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

What is "mongering" exactly? I don't really hear people use that in everyday life. "Stop mongering my food! You food-monger, you!" Maybe it's related to fishmonger, but that still doesn't really clear it up.

There seems to be this idea going around that conservative Republicans have a habit of warmongering. By this, I assume they mean: a pejorative term that is used to describe the practice of being eager to encourage a people or nation to go to war. This is somewhat akin to fear-mongering which is the use of fear to influence the opinions and actions of others towards some specific end.

Of course when applied to Republicans, I am somewhat confused. Do they (the people who persist in using this term for description of conservatives) imply that we are regularly using the threat of war to... retain power I suppose?

In which case I propose that we also bring into politics the new terms for describing the Democratic Party: racemongering, poormongering, minoritymongering, climatechange/globalwarmingmongering, and... um... equalitymongering, I guess. Because, really, criticizing the GOP for appealing to veterans, business people, and social values people is kind of weird, because appealing to certain people is what parties and organizations do.

For what is a party, really, except an organization of like-minded people? Sure there's more to it, but basically that's what it is. And the Dems do that just as much as we do. Especially on activist issues, like global warming, animal rights, feminism, and all them other crazy stuffs.

On Intelligent Design

2009-09-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

It's not science. It's creationism. I think we all know that.

I'm not an atheist, nor am I completely and rabidly convicted of the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection's "factual" status, because let's be honest, it's called a "theory" for a reason.

Sure, science-wackos (by that I don't mean scientists, I mean pseudo-intellectual yuppies and pardon the term, Left-wing Elitists) like to say, "Sure evolution's just a theory... like gravity". That's wrong.

1) "Evolution" is not the problem. Evolution is well-accepted. Species change. Duh. The real issue is Evolution by means of "Natural Selection". However, people have confused the two terms to the point where they don't even understand what they're arguing about.

2) Evolution is just a theory. Theories are subject to tweaks, changes, reformations, and being scrapped entirely. Whereas, "gravity" is a law.

Something yuppies and pseudo-intellectuals don't understand (but pretend they do more than you and I) is the difference in real science between a law and a theory. That's why I hate those stupid bumper stickers.

Back to the point: my problem is with Intelligent Design is that isn't science. So, something higher designed us... how does that change anything? Why would anyone devote their time to something most people knew: that Natural Selection, despite it's very good track record of predicting and explaining, doesn't explain absolutely everything?

Science has had this problem before, but why some scientists don't see it is weird. I mean, who do they picture being this "Intelligent Designer"? God? Gods? Aliens?

In the end, it's either creationism or just a weird "Extra-terrestrials invented people" thing.

On "Death Panels"

2009-09-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

I don't know what a death panel is, nor do I know what the justification/rationale behind putting it in a bill.

All I know is it sounds menacing, it was in the current healthcare bill being put through Congress (Sept. 2009), and it got taken out.

On Libertarianism

2009-08-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

For a while, I wasn't sure of the whole placement of Libertarianism within the political spectrum. I figured, hey, they're just another kind of conservative, but that didn't explain why so many conservatives came down on Libertarianism so hard (for example, in Mike Huckabee's book X, he references libertarians quite a few times in a less than glowing way).

However, as I grew in understanding- and I am still growing- I came to realize that the general libertarian position was not as solidly conservative as I imagined. Although self-described conservatives and libertarians share positions and ideals, especially the important "Smaller gov is always better" principle, they also differ on quite a few issues.

For example, the American conservative position on gay marriage, cannabis legalization, and abortion is opposite the Libertarian Party's stated position. The libertarian movement seeks to maximize individual liberty, that's the definition of "libertarian". Now, that definition used to be taken by the term "liberal", and still is kind of in Europe and elsewhere, but that's irrelevant.

I'm going to attempt to explain a little of this. They generally oppose restrictions or bans on abortion because they are attempts by the gov to interfere with a mother's liberty, her choice, her freedom to do with her body and baby as she pleases (actually, one of the things that bugs me personally about abortion is often how only a mother can choose, but the father has to pay his share of the costs). So it's her decision whether or not to terminate the fetus.

Also, they oppose bans on gay marriage because the government has no right to interfere with what you do in your private life. Fine. And they also support the legalization of medicinal cannabis (marijuana) and even sometimes the decriminalization of recreational marijuana. Um, interesting.

Now, having said that, they, with conservatives, agree on several other issues, like smaller government, a flatter tax rate, more private health care, and opposition to gun control. So they are indeed "fiscally conservative" in their views, which is a common ground, and a sound one at that. However, they are also, in a general description, more "socially liberal", meaning they take the common liberal POV on social issues.

Having found out all this, I can understand the position of Libertarianism and why certain conservative groups are hostile, or at least wary, towards libertarians.

It occurred to me that I might actually be libertarian rather than conservative, but I realized I agreed more with how the conservative area of the political spectrum deal with social issues and foreign policy. Especially things like abortion, border security, and the "War" in Iraq. But on the whole, I can say I understand, and even respect, the Libertarian position.

On Marijuana (short)

2009-08-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

Before I make any huge statements or any overarching essays, I'd like to make the point that I have not done an immense amount of research into this subject. So I am not completely informed and I wish to dispel any assumptions to the contrary.

I am against the legalization of cannabis/marijuana, and fairly opposed to the decriminalization of cannabis for both recreational use and medical.

More on this will come later.

On Soft Tyranny

2009-07-19T11:55:00.001-07:00

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

-C. S. Lewis

On Michael Jackson

2009-06-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

So Michael Jackson died. A few days ago in fact.

I feel notsogood, because I remember making terrible jokes about him just last school year. It's not like they weren't funny, and let's be honest, you don't have to be convicted by a jury for the people to already have their own. Really, we were fairly convinced he was a child-molestor.

But none of that matters now, because he's dead. Died of some heart issue, I believe.

On a related note, Farrah Fawcett and Billy Mays also both died within the same short timeframe. Fawcett is some actress from the 70s (show called "Charlie's Angels") and Mays was a spokesperson for commercials like Oxyclean and Mighty Putty. My siblings and I know him better as the shouting guy, as he is always speaking in a shouting tone of voice.

It's kind of disconcerting, realizing that your going to live long enough to see your favorite older pop stars and music idols die.

On Information Gained from "Torture Techniques"

2009-06-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

One thing I don't have a problem with is people having a position contrary to mine. There is always going to be opposition to your point of view, no matter who is right.

What I do have a problem with is Nancy Pelosi going out of her way to lie and claim she was mislead to put blame and shame on the nation's intelligence services. Also, I have a problem with the current administration going out of their way to do everything they can to punish or blame the former administration, including prosecutions of aides and advisers.

Mostly, their outrage is over the 4 memos sent around the intelligence agencies. In it included ten techniques, including waterboarding. Of course, Senator Pelosi and dozens of other senators were fully briefed on these techniques and their usage for the War on Terror. They have the nerve to assert they were "not informed" or "mislead" or, my favorite, "told it might be done in the future but that it had not been done, yet".

All I can say is: bullshit. They were briefed (quite a few times) and there is very little chance that they were "in the dark" so to speak.

Damn hypocrites.

On Iran's Nuclear Ambitions

2009-06-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

As one might say "Iran, a threat? You bet!"

Or alternately "Iran: Got Nukes?" Heh heh. But seriously:

Iran’s ambitions for nuclear technology are a threat to global stability and security. Where there are nuclear secrets, there are going to be nuclear weapons, and that is the steep, slippery slope Iran is on right now. If Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, the most obvious danger is that they use it. There have been many threats against western countries like the U.S. and Israel. It is not unreasonable that Iran may wish to demonstrate its new-found power. On the other hand, there is also the chance that their weapon may instead fall into the hands of a terrorist organization. It could be taken by the terrorists by force or coup. Perhaps it could even be sold or merely given to them. This is a more likely and more disastrous outcome, as none of the terror groups with support from Tehran would likely have any qualms about using a nuclear weapon and annihilating thousands of people to further their cause. Of course, even the possibility of Tehran having or wanting a nuclear arsenal is disturbing. It would dramatically shift the power structure of the Middle East toward Iran and would encourage them to force western leaders to bend over backwards. It would capsize any hopes of advancing democracy in the region. All this, coupled with the possibility of additional nuclear proliferation to other Middle Eastern countries, makes Iran’s nuclear program a recipe for international chaos.

Iran was not always Iran. Before 1935, it was internationally referred to as “Persia”. In fact, even the current Iranian attitude towards the West is also different from past attitudes. The shahs (kings) of the early 1900s were generally either isolationist or pro-west (or both). Iran was, as a matter of fact, considered to be a bastion of modern western thought in the barbarism of the Middle East. It wasn’t until the Islamic Revolution of 1979 overthrew the moderate shah and established a hard-line “Islamic Republic” and the extremist and anti-western regime we know today came into being. The revolution’s ultra-religious leaders, headed by Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, instituted their distrust and dislike of the West, its materialism, and the United States particularly. In their view, there was plenty of reason to hate the U.S. The U.S. had supported their shah throughout the revolution, competed over influence with the USSR during the Cold War, supported both sides during the Iran-Iraq conflict to keep the balance of power, and been accused of only looking out for their own oil interests. In addition, the U.S. currently occupies Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which are right next-door.

Their dislike of the U.S. also spills over to a hatred of Israel, which they see as an extension of the U.S., as well as an aggressive occupation of Palestine. It is so ingrained in their foreign policy, that their leaders have gone so far as to openly denounce and threaten Israel: the representative of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has noted,

"Israel is a cancerous tumor that must be destroyed"

and present Supreme Leader Khameini said,

"The foundation of the Islamic regime is opposition to Israel, and Iran's continuous issue is the obliteration of Israel from the region."

Not only have they threatened so, but they have also gone to the lengths of supporting several terrorist organizations to achieve that end. For example, Lebanese-based Hezbollah receives millions of dollars per year, plus training, supplies, and especially weapons, from the IRGC. Sometimes it’s not so much a matter of being on the same side as it is of sharing a hate for the West. The Islamic Republic of Iran has a history of fighting the Taliban because of their firm opposition to the opium trade. Yet evidence links them to selling guns to the Taliban to cause the US and NATO more problems to resolve and to pressure them to withdraw sooner.

The crisis is that Iran has a nuclear enrichment program generally reserved for nuclear weapons construction and strong evidence has shown that they are also tinkering with suspicious nuclear technology, missile delivery systems, supporting terrorist groups, and increasing hostility towards the Western world. Even if it’s a juvenile cry for international attention, the threat cannot be taken lightly. It is a problem for the U.S., the West, and all of the free world. Any nuclear weapon is dangerous in the hands of a country as volatile as Iran. There are many possible crises that could arise. The unstable leaders in government could decide they’ve finally had enough of America and Israel and press the big red button. They could decide to sell the technology to the highest bidder, be it Saudi Arabia or al-Qaeda. Israel could consider decimating Iran with its own nukes out of fear for their own safety and start a whole Middle Eastern War. A man could trip while ferrying it from one place to another and blow up Tehran by mistake.

If President Ahmadinejad continues production on Iran’s nuclear arsenal, which according to his own words won’t be too long- he stresses “the irreversible path of the nuclearization of the Iranian nation”- the buildup of tension in the Middle East will increase tenfold. The nations of the West will have to tiptoe around Iran and some will undoubtedly bend over backwards to suit Iran. Everyone will wait, not all patiently, while Iran figures out what it’ll do now that it has the bomb. There won’t be any security in the world for years, perhaps decades, if and when this happens.

A few solutions have emerged, though none resolve every possible detail. One plan that has been around a while is a plan to preemptively strike and maybe invade Iran if necessary. This would definitively be a disaster and much more difficult to resolve than Iraq ever was. Another scenario would be to allow Iran to pursue its nuclear ambitions and attain a nuclear arsenal. Theoretically, this would create a Cold War-like freeze on aggression with both sides fearful of mutual destruction. That would not likely work either. The Middle East is too full of turmoil to be frozen in place. Eventually something would upset the balance and everything could go down in flames. The U.N. has an agency dedicated to the supervision, creation, and promotion of nuclear energy in member countries, called the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Their duty is supposed to be to blow the whistle whenever someone breaks the rules they have to prevent nuclear abuse. The IAEA, however, has repeatedly relented to Iranian demands and not taken a strong stance on the possibility of manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction in Iran (perhaps due to stigma over Iraq). The West shall have to work somewhere in between the two paths to work out a resolution. They must be ready to both compromise and assert with Iran as needed. As Teddy Roosevelt said, “speak softly, but carry a big stick.”

Any nuclear ambitions by Iran are and should rightly be considered threats to peace and stability in the Middle East and world-wide. There must be a watchdog organization that will stand up and get tough on countries like this. Iran cannot be trusted as of now to be able to handle the power and responsibility that come with being a nuclear power. The chances of misfire, aggression, terrorist application, and the spread of such technology to neighboring countries and the repercussions are too great to gamble on.

The free world must work to roll back and contain this threat. A nuclear-armed Iran is literally a ticking time bomb.

On Realpolitik

2009-04-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Oh, it occurred to me that I should probably mention this: this is not so much a forum for debate as it is my sort of manifesto-type thing. It's not so much a discussion as it is what I think. You may agree or disagree and I suppose people can comment, but I would like to put it down in writing, or typing really, that I will not tolerate any comments that I find to be offensive or intended to put down another commentator, myself included. There are smarter, cleverer, and more gentle ways of criticism than flaming each other over the internet.

Just putting that out there.

On Youtube: Obama

2009-04-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Lovin' it!

Check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PqI12R8YNU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcuXV99asO8&feature=channel

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-yJBsjatW0&feature=channel

On the Antichrist (or lack thereof)

2009-03-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

The Antichrist is the theorized "pure evil" that will destroy us all and is somehow more evil than Satan himself. He is the opposite of all that is good and right. He has nothing in common with anyone. He is the polar opposite of God himself.

Let me put it this way: he doesn't exist and, by definition, he cannot possibly exist.

First, I will argue that in an atheist's world, there is no God and therefore no opposite of God. Bam. One possibility down.

Next, in the case God does exist (which he does; just sayin'), then every aspect God has cannot be shared. God is all good; the antichrist is all evil. They have nothing in common. Therefore, by definition, he cannot exist.

Follow me, if you will.

These are the premises:
1. God is good. Goodness is God. God=good.

2. Antichrist=evil

3. Evil is what is not good, good is what is not evil. They share no traits.

4. God exists.

Thus, the argument goes:

5. Existing, therefore, is good. (Because anything that God is is also good.)

6. Therefore, not existing is evil. (Because it is what God is not, which is evil.)

7. Antichrist is all that is evil and is not what is good.

8.Therefore, the Antichrist, by definition, does not exist.

Ta da.

Too bad. Satan's the closest thing you can get to pure evil. The only thing preventing him from being pure evil is the fact that he exists. It's like "0" vs. "0.0000000...1". Ole Lucifer is close enough.

I think it's a pretty sound argument, neh? If not, please tell.

On Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

2009-03-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

I hear a lot of people complaining that about how Bush's deregulation of industry and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It comes from living in California, I suppose. There is a lot of Bush-bashing that goes on. Not that I completely disagree with it, but it gets tiring fast.

I would like to point out, however, that in 2003, the Bush administration had called for "the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago". This was partly supported by executives in the two federally-sponsored companies.

The Congress, under a Democratic majority at the time, rejected the plan.

I quote: "'These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,' said Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. 'The more people exaggerate these problems... the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.'"

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/11/business/new-agency-proposed-to-oversee-freddie-mac-and-fannie-mae.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

Just a thought supported by a fact, plus a warning not to believe just anything.

On My Favorite Amendments

2009-03-11T12:19:00.001-07:00

My personal favorite amendments are:

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

and

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

I like Amendment #2 because I like guns. Just a fact. Also, you never know when you might have to repel a foreign invader, hunt for food, defend yourself from a robber/burglar/murderer/solicitor, or even overthrow your government. :)

However, I think the last two amendments are perhaps the most important and most underappreciated of all of them.

Amendment #10 says that any powers not specifically given to the federal gov are automatically given to the people/states. That means if it was not listed as a federal power, the government has no right to handle it. It means "if it's not listed here and we did not specifically say they could do it, or that the states couldn't do it, then the federal gov cannot pass a law dealing with it".

Amendment #9 basically says, "just because these particular rights are specifically listed, it DOES NOT MEAN that those are the only rights you have". People have more rights than are listed or that the Founding Fathers didn't know about at the time, but they had the foresight to realize that they would and provided for it in this amendment.

It provides for the law of "the exception implies the rule". This is often misquoted as "the exception proves the rule", but this is incorrect. It was coined by a Roman lawyer (I believe it was Cicero) in the days of the Roman Republic as exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis.

Now if I may quote:

"Cicero's defense of L. Cornelius Balbo (56 B.C.) is the earliest known citation of this logic and is sometimes cited as the origin of the phrase. Balbo was accused of having been illegally granted Roman citizenship. The prosecutor pointed out that treaties with some non-Roman peoples prohibited granting them citizenship and suggested this should be inferred in Balbo's case. Cicero replied "If the exception makes such an action unlawful, where there is no exception the action must necessarily be lawful." (Quod si exceptio facit ne liceat, ubi necesse est licere.) "

Here's the site and it has a link to the latin speech:
http://alt-usage-english.org/exception_proves.html

Just so long as people don't forget their freedoms.

On PM G. Brown's US visit

2009-03-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe President Obama's treatment of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. In case you didn't know, the PM of the UK visited the White House recently and was not exactly given the royal red carpet treatment.

First off, during the PM's visit to the White House, Obama and Brown did a traditional exchanging of gifts. Brown gave Obama a penholder from the HMS Gannet, a framed commission paper from the HMS Resolute, and a first edition copy of Winston Churchill's biography. In return Obama had the sensitivity and good sense to give the Prime Minister an entire set of 25 "classic" American DVDs. Which can't be played in Britain because the systems are different. Wow.

Of course, Mr. Brown is hard of sight in one eye, so he doesn't watch movies and shows anyway. Huh.

On top of that, Obama decided he would also give back the bust of Churchill that was given to us from Britain in the first place! It was given as a symbol of their support after 9/11.

Check it out. We've got Mr. Sensitive in the White House.

Also during the press conferences, anyone could see that whenever PM G. Brown tried to get friendly with "Barry O", our prez would coolly shut him down. I felt the temperature drop whenever Obama answered Brown's conversation starters. Every time Brown tried to break the ice, Obama would come in like a north wind and freeze him over.

What is Obama thinking?! He's the Prime Minister of Great Britain, for God's sake. The UK is one of our best allies, and historically our closest. You do not treat your best friends like they don't matter or you will lose them. What right does he have to talk about negotiating with our enemies with respect and courtesy, and then treat our best allies like dust in the wind? Sure, most of the Brits adore Obama now, most of them dislike Brown, and nothing will change that for a while; that doesn't give leave to Obama to treat him like a tiring three year-old.

I'm just as surprised at all the Brits who blame the friction on Brown. I realize he's unpopular and not very lucky as far as politics goes. Still, that's not a good reason to blame our prez's bad foreign policy on him. Their prime minister has been snubbed by a president of a country who is supposed to be their BFF. They should be outraged!

Bottom Line: foreign correspondents, ambassadors, officials, and executives do not deserve to be snubbed, especially from our closest allies.

Honestly, I said it during the campaigns and I'll say it now, I may not have agreed with McCain's particular brand of conservatism (or any of the other candidates' brands for that matter), but at least they would not be screwing up our foreign policy like the present administration.

On Valentine's Day

2009-02-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

Hi. Today's just a few days away from Valentine's Day and already there are heart-shaped candies lining store windows. It's usually one of my least favorite holidays and, in a way, it still is. The only difference between then and now is that then it was just a holiday to remind me how few friends I had. Boy, does that sound pathetic.

Of course, now it's a day to stress over what and how much/little to get my girlfriend. Normally I participate in holidays over at her place, and it's fine because there's no other reason for being there. But with a holiday escpecially dedicated to love, romance, small chocolates, sweet nothings, and the like, the environment becomes increasingly awkward. Her little siblings look at me funny and so do her parents, but in a different kind of funny. I don't think they really think I'd do anything really serious- and I wouldn't- but they're keeping an eye out all the same.

How much does one want to give? Good question. I'm not sure; I think it depends on the significant other. It usually does.

You don't want to give too little, for obvious reasons. Cheapskate and uncaring are a couple words that pop to mind. Also, you don't want to give to much. After all, gushing can also be seen as brown-nosing and sucking up, not to mention being a "loverboy". I've got a reputation to uphold. Given, it's small and dented and beat up and kinda smells like old shirts, but it's a reputation nonetheless.

So, I recommend asking and acting like business as usual. Nothing too special. Sure, it's a holiday of love, but don't let yourself go.

Note: holiday is named for Saint Valentine. Not sure of his story, but I know he would write letters of love(filial) and comfort to Christian prisoners in the early AD. Live in Rome I think. Maybe he was martyred for his beliefs. I dunno.

Boy, he's a nice guy. Not a bad reason for a holiday. Great reason for less school.

On Alcohol

2009-01-28T09:15:00.001-08:00

"Beer is proof God wants us to be happy."
-Benjamin Franklin

Or at the very least, drunk.

On New Year of '09

2009-01-01T13:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years, everybody. Have a wonderful time. Please. It's good for you.

On Global Warming

2009-01-01T12:59:00.000-08:00

Global warming? Yeah, right. It's freezing outside, for Christ's sake! I've seen more frost in the past few weeks outside than I have in the past 6 winters.

"I thought global warming would take care of it. Al Gore can't do anything right!"
-Homer Simpson

On Christmas

2008-12-17T12:21:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone. I say Merry Christmas, to you and your kin. Not Happy Holidays, or Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah. Merry Christmas.

There is a large-ish movement of people in the US who want to enforce this concept of political correctness no matter the cost. Now, it's not that I don't want there to be some level of sensitivity regarding these things. No. It's just that to force people to speak vauguely like that is just stupid.

What exactly is the reasoning behind that? Is it the fact that it celebrates Jesus's birthday? Or is it just the fact that the word has "Christ" in it? What are they scared of? Being converted? People don't convert merely because someone says the word "Christ". There is nothing to be offended by. Muslims still think Jesus was a prophet, so nothing there, and I have it on good authority Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus don't care. Who's offended? Nobody, that's who.

Besides, Christmas is a secular holiday as well as a religious one. Sure it has the level of meaning with Jesus's birth and that, but it also is a general holiday of gift giving, charity, goodwill, Santa Claus, and Christmas turkey/ham. What is there to be offended by? Does atheistic goodwill offend people now? A secular holiday is meant for people of all religions to enjoy. The very purpose of secularism is to provide neutral ground for religion and to provide a way of thinking that does not require some higher being.

One may argue that since Santa Claus is indeed "Saint Nicholas", that it may upset somebody. However, I would like to point out that since Santa Claus is still currently alive, he cannot possibly be a saint, as it is required of a person to be very, very dead to be a saint.

Personally, I'm on the verge of theorizing that this whole thing is just another way to repress our freedom of speech and scare people into acting like sheep, following whatever dogma happens across them.

So, I say again, in the name of freedom and all that is loving and gift-giving:

Merry Christmas to all.

The Beginning

2008-12-15T17:08:00.000-08:00

Hello, all and all. Welcome to Realpolitik, the blog where I post my thoughts on certain issues and such. Don't expect a river of genius.

It's much more fun when you don't expect it and it comes anyway.